


Persona 3: Intertwined Tales

by StreamOfConsciousness



Series: Intertwined Tales [2]
Category: Persona 3, Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Crossover, Dark Hour (Persona 3), End of the World, Mentions of Other Super Smash Brothers Characters, Mystery, Original Character(s), POV First Person, Saving the World, Time Loop, Two Endings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:01:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 46,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23908126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StreamOfConsciousness/pseuds/StreamOfConsciousness
Summary: He dies. He wakes up. He dies again, then wakes up again. Yet time still moves on... up to a certain point.This is an alternate universe fic combining the characters and setting ofPersona 3with theSuper Smash Bros.universe as defined byIntertwined Tales(see my currently unfinished work,Super Smash Bros.: Intertwined Tales), meaning the characters are given random roles, may behave differently from canon, and may even have different relationships.
Series: Intertwined Tales [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723327





	1. Introduction

I am living a hellish life. It feels as if I was born to suffer for my entire life. Yet I never truly leave the world. Every horrible pain, I wake up, as if nothing happened. But I do remember the events prior, even the agony. Every scream, every suffering. As if they are part of every day routine. I do see other people suffer the same too, but... is it really normal for them? Or, is it just me? Some people ended up truly gone from this world, some ended up living like I do. Or maybe they are just my imagination? There is no point in trying to make sense of this.

But it was not this bad back then.

...

My name is Akihiko Sanada. You would not believe that I have lived this way, without any closure, for years. In a few months, my senior year will be over, and I will graduate from high school. You may imagine me suffering even through college. But something has been off for quite a while these days, and I am not talking about my recurring deaths, a particular school club I am in, or certain strange events (like the existence of the 25th hour, would you believe this?).

To help make things clear, I am going to recount my past. Not all of it, only moments I vividly remember. I have to warn you, though. These are mostly morbid. But some of my deaths may be so ridiculous, this might as well be free entertainment. I do not care. But the point is, I have to tell you this in order to help you catch up with the events leading to the present time.

* * *

The year was **1999**.

I was living in the orphanage back then. The care taker may be strict and the place was not the best thing in the world, but I lived at peace. Sure I did not (and still do not) remember my biological parents, I managed to consider our little group a family. No, not with the other, random kids that I occasionally talked to or played with, but with my sister and a really good friend. Shinjiro, or Shinji, as I prefer to call him. Even back then, he was the big guy of the group. However, unlike now, he was more carefree, more playful, definitely a contrast compared to how he looks like and behaves now. Still had the same feeling of care, though. As for my sister, Miki, she was my only grip to a proper family I know of. I would be hurt if anything bad happened to her.

Enough of the sappy introductions. I will get to the point.

One day, while the other kids were playing outside, I was in the orphanage's living room watching TV. Actually, it was more like I was walking by when the news suddenly came on, catching my attention. It was a report about murder. No grisly details explained, just the fact it took place in the middle of the woods, the killer was a camp counselor, and the victims were his three campers, all children. I felt uneasy. Why do I explain this, even though reports like this are not new? While child me paid no further attention to the news report, looking back I think that was a sign of things to come. When I managed to take a peek at the latest newspaper the following day, I could finally read about the details related to the killing as explained by one (un)lucky witness.

The camp counselor, until then, had a clean report. Genuinely good man.

The three campers, naive as expected, did not expect the horrible event.

The camp counselor, in the middle of entertaining the kids with some music, spontaneously snapped. For no reason.

Caught off guard, the poor kids could only watch as they were dismembered one by one. All done very quickly, as if he had the skills for killing effectively. All that horrid work, done with just an axe and his own guitar.

It was only fortunate that he got captured easily because he accidentally injured his leg from his crazed act.

When he was questioned about it... he did not remember. He was even surprised when he finally learned about his dead campers. As if something was controlling his mind...

* * *

I believe a few months had passed since then. It was still **1999**.

I was at the nearby playground, enjoying my time with Miki and Shinji. We were hanging out at the blue merry-go-round, just enjoying the spin in pure bliss. Our surroundings just spun and spun around... but we did not care. We had fun. The weather may be colder at this point in time, but we kids just had the energy to face it. Then we stopped. That was too much spinning.

As we relaxed on the now-unmoving playground ride, I looked at the sky. It was afternoon, and the sky was just blurring between blue and orange. There were not many clouds. At least we were assured that it will not be raining anytime soon. Among the clouds, there was also a plane. You know, these things are easy attention grabbers, especially to children, who are oh-so easily impressed by something like that.

Then the plane got bigger.

And bigger.

And bigger...

* * *

I woke up.

It was a nightmare, I thought. But it felt all too real. The sudden weight crashing down on my little body, the roars of the engine blocking my screams, the flames... yet it all happened so quickly. But I would rather have that over suffering in agony before finally dying. It was like a mercy.

...

Then the fire happened.


	2. Drawing Blood

**2/11/2000**

My view on the world became darker since that fire. It was no dream. The orphanage building was no more, and I lost Miki... Even after I was eventually adopted, the horror still rang through my mind. I wanted to shout. I wanted to hurt myself. Why did she have to die? Why couldn't I just join her? Why was I not allowed to save her? ...Childhood was just a step before the hell that I am suffering in now. However, despite everything, I kept thinking that I can not end my life just yet. I may wallow in my tears from the memories, but I needed to know more about the world I am living in. Maybe, just maybe, I could do something that would not only please myself, but also Shinji and even Miki. No point in seeing them while being all whiny and crying. At least, that was what I thought. Even now, I keep reminding myself of my terrible past and get all sad about it.

But this is no time to elaborate my feelings even further. Let me continue.

It was a cold February. I was walking on my own through a nearby forest in my thick winter clothes. My adoptive parents could not care any less. The forest was not very thick, and it had a clear path through, definitely from various travelers' constant trek through the same route. The forest was known for its lake, that's why. No need to worry about getting lost.

After a while walking, I eventually got to the lake. It was not really large. I would say, it was as big as a typical swimming pool. I remembered the water being more green, but then again, it had been frozen over throughout the winter. I was too used to those scenery photos, and had to remind myself that some things just color the water, whether from what I learned later to be algae (or dissolved organic matter) or questionable substances. Not to say that blue lakes do not exist. It is just I had never seen such clear blue lake for real. Perhaps I should travel more. Anyway, I was walking along the edges when I noticed the "no swimming" sign. Well, it was still February, and the lake was frozen over, so why try to rebel? I was there just to enjoy the view, to clear my mind as usual. Feeling peaceful.

What I did not expect was things jumping out from the lake.

Yes, even breaking through the ice.

The fish were absolutely vicious. They wasted no time trying to bite off every piece of my clothing. Keyword being "trying," as most of them just ended up stuck to my thick jacket. Others either gave up and returned to the icy water, or ended up flopping on the ground. I was grateful that not a single one aimed for my face. Then again, child me just flailed around in panic. That was a natural reaction for a helpless kid, okay?

But that was not the end. No, not yet.

In the middle of my flailing, I failed to notice something much larger approaching me from underwater. Looking back, I should have questioned why these things were even there and why they were this violent. It could not be really helped when I was but a dumb kid in panic. No time to calm down and think.

I was then eaten by an alligator.

...

I woke up.

Death by alligator. I remember half of my body bitten off. Yet another nightmare, I thought.

* * *

**3/10/2001**

It had been almost exactly a year since my previous nightmare. Dreaming of death is no less strange than any other dream. However, the frequency of these occurrences began to rise.

It was early spring. I had found new hobbies for me to try. At least, anything to make my life more worthwhile instead of staying hopeless. One of them was skateboarding. I just thought that it allowed me to maneuver around many places faster. Risky, yes, but so is almost everything else in life. On this date, I was simply roaming around the rural little town I lived in until I got tired and decided to get something to eat. Just one place, yet felt like a full adventure for my age. I decided to stop at a nearby shop and get myself some ice cream. Yeah... different tastes at different ages. However, little did I know that this little stop would lead me to my doom.

After having finished my ice cream, I looked behind me. I was not even aware that the pink puffball thing, Kirby, had been watching me intently from his scooter. Who's Kirby? Let's just say... he had quite a reputation in this town. Normally, he had a strong attraction to sweets. Hell, he might as well be the vacuum for the unwanted sugar. It's as if his mouth is like an entrance to an endless void.

However... this was different. It was not enough he took interest in my ice cream. I checked my surroundings, but it was clear that his gaze was fixed on me and not on any of the food items in the shop. I felt even more uneasy. Then I finally got the hint.

He was salivating over me. My flesh.

I got on my skateboard and got the hell out of the place. Of course, he began chasing after me on his vehicle. This was very unlike him. What the hell happened?! What's with his behavior? Why? Even if I was wiser, there was no way to fish for answers from this guy. Kirby was hard to reason with. Bribing with candy can work, but since he just suddenly lost his mind and started his new diet...

...This sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Unexplained change in behavior. The new behavior being morbid and twisted. Possibly zero reason for doing so. All this happening spontaneously.

It took me years to link this back to that damned news report.

So, how did the chase go? Pretty intense, I must say. The town had plenty of hills. If I began going downhill, count on the increased speed for making my heart race even more than usual. It felt like if I made one wrong move, that would be the end of me. Kirby was still persistent. He looked outright fearless, laughing. I constantly had to switch between looking forward and back, making things even trickier. At one point, I passed by a wasp nest. Almost hit it too, as the nest was hanging really low from a tree that was already really low to begin with. It seemed that me zipping through was enough to anger those sting-happy bugs. I looked back, seeing Kirby about to pass the tree as well. Needless to say, he got stopped by the angry wasps. I could not make quite a detail as I was going down so fast, but I was sure that he got stung by the entire hive. I sighed in relief, finally free from this madness. I then looked forward.

I ran straight into sharp rocks at the base of a cliff.

...

I woke up.

Death by sharp rocks. Pretty sure the high speed was enough to outright impale myself through them effortlessly. A very intense nightmare.

* * *

**4/14/2001**

I tried to shake off the nightmare last month. My increased heart rate, my rising fear, my death... Everything felt so real. Yet the next time I encountered Kirby again, he just displayed his innocent smile and was back to craving sweets. Maybe that kind of horror really was just my imagination, I thought. But what's with this aching feeling? Child me was not able to understand. I would easily snap, but that did not happen. Child me would still think of these nightmares as simply, well, nightmares.

So, at this particular date, I decided to enjoy some outdoors at night. I needed another way to clear my head. Such messed up childhood.

I set up my campfire not too far away from home. I simply used a nearby log as a seat. Better use what nature gave you. Once everything was done, it was just me and the campfire. Or so I thought.

To my surprise, Shinji happened to pass by. Of course, I greeted him. It had been a long while. Shinji simply smiled, looked around, then sat on the ground. Facing the fire, he began to warm himself. I noticed that he was carrying a stick with a small pouch tied to its tip. Did he run away from home? Was he planning to visit me? I would ask these questions, but after the nightmares I went through, I decided not to. Simply chill and enjoy the night under the moon. Clear from any troubling thoughts.

But then the unthinkable happened.

I could see it, beyond the fire, that Shinji suddenly grew anxious. Was it the sudden spark? No, that could not be it, I thought. His pupils shrunk as he looked at the fire. Then he lost it.

Child me failed to notice the problem. I was surprised when I saw my good friend simply leaped towards me, sharp stone in hand.

Everything went into a blur. The pain... was unimaginable. I thought that it was so bad, I was practically numb. I could only moan helplessly. But even through the blur, I could notice that Shinji was not done with me. His arm swung to the side. Was he taking out something? He then got closer. A gray-colored thing in his hand... was suddenly shoved into my torso. His arm then made a diagonal motion. I could not scream. I could not feel anything at this point. It was too much.

As my vision began to fade, the last thing I saw was, I thought, Shinji pulling out my organs. Why... Shinji...?

...

I woke up.

I was murdered by my best friend. I hated this nightmare. Hate. Hate. Hate.

* * *

**10/20/2001**

It took me months to get over my fear of Shinji. The whole time, I just avoided him, while he was lost and confused over my change in behavior. Even our classmates noticed this. Considering my latest nightmare, they might as well imagine me to be the one who would go insane and kill everyone. But it all finally changed starting from this date. Shinji never showed any signs of aggression of that level outside that nightmare. Yet I could not find my answer to this. It was similar to Kirby earlier. Well, nightmares are nightmares, I thought. I have to stop worrying, I thought.

You can imagine the joy and relief on his face when I apologized and promised him that we will stay friends. I did not need to say anything else. It was all he needed. Current Shinji would lecture me with his choice words then leave me on my own so that I can contemplate about my dumb actions. All the other classmates were relieved too. I was never alone.

On this date, we went home from school as normal, via bus. Ever since that apology, we were much happier kids. We sang throughout the trip. We poked our heads out from the windows. We shared snacks. We laughed. We enjoyed the trip. All this despite the trip itself being potentially dangerous. You see, our elementary school was much further away, and the closest route we could take without spending hours was through the mountains by the sea. There were no barriers on the cliff edges, so one wrong drive and it's all over.

And this fear became reality.

Perhaps I should be glad I was still in a state of pure bliss as I was still enjoying the wind blowing into my face. What I did manage to hear, though, was sounds of conflict. A female student's anxious whimper. The bus driver's shouts, which sounded much more agitated than normal.

Then one bump on the road later, and I was down and out. I think I just hit my head on something hard enough to make me lose my consciousness, as I was basically standing over my seat that moment. I was a dumb kid, and I did not have the endurance, okay?

I could not remember anything else happening after that.

...

I woke up.


	3. Best Served Cold

**9/22/2002**

Worst birthday ever. Actually, I am not even sure if my other days are any different.

The year was 2002. It was at this point that child me began questioning the nightmares. The ones where I died horribly in, whether by accident or by the hands of someone else. Why did those hurt so badly? Why did those feel so real? Experiencing a "normal" dream (define "normal") was like a blessing compared to these.

Child me thought I would get my answers soon.

As of now, I still do not have a clear one.

Child me began to be increasingly more wary every day. Who knows, the ground I walked on would rip apart and kill me. And only me. Even though fortunately all of these resulted in me waking up, I could not (and still can not) shake the fact that one day I would die for real. But at the same time, perhaps absolute death would be the only way out of this misery. It felt like getting stuck being pulled apart by greater forces with no result, only constant pain. Whether to continue living only to experience the nightmares and wallow in fear or giving in to despair only to utterly fail at erasing myself over and over again, it does not matter.

I began distancing myself again from everyone. Let them live happy.

Until... I made a new friend.

She was one of the quirky creatures living in this world. All she can speak is something like "pudding," but she can understand human language just fine. I did not know what drove me into befriending her. Was it her complete naivety? Her innocent-looking smile? Her genuine friendliness? Regardless, her presence was enough for child me to temporarily forget my own suffering. According to someone (I forgot) who knows her, her name is Jigglypuff.

Back to the noted date at hand, this is my birthday. I never asked for anything special, since I constantly lived in fear when I was not being tormented by my memories of my sister. A visit to a small fast food place should not be something grand, but to me, it felt kinda is. At least, that was my thought. Then again, Jigglypuff came with me. Once again, I was never alone. The place was a small burger joint with all the greasy atmosphere you can imagine. I think it was only managed by one person who happened to be the burger flipper there...? But that does not matter. The point is, Jigglypuff and I went in, took our seats, and placed our orders of burgers, fries, and soda. It's cheap, so I had no problem simply using my allowance. Honestly, I rarely ate at this kind of place back then, so it took me a while to get used to eating with my hands, without the familiar tools. I believed Jigglypuff was a regular here, so she had no problems with that. She even laughed at my attempts of squirting ketchup into my burger.

Then all the joy stopped when one particular customer walked in.

I could not fully swallow what was going on. This customer, if I recall correctly, looked like a plumber. He rushed straight to our table, flipped it over, snatched my drink I was holding, then stabbed my throat with a pipe. I quickly lost my consciousness after a few seconds of gurgling (or was I choking?). I remember feeling my blood leaking out from around the impact point. As I collapsed, the last thing I heard... was Jigglypuff's horrific scream. I did not want to imagine what happened to her.

...

I woke up.

Murdered by a maniac who was thankfully not Shinji. But at this point, I wondered if my friendship with Jigglypuff was ever real.

* * *

**12/3/2002**

It was nearing the holidays.

My school decided to put up a stage act performed by my class that night. Since that nightmare from my birthday, I would expect something to go wrong, so I just faked my smile and tried to enjoy playing my assigned part: a tree. Heh, it did not matter anymore, right?

But my mind changed when I saw who was in the spotlight.

Shinji.

He was not costumed, still in his school uniform. He was asked to take center stage and sing at the last minute as the student that was supposed to be assigned to that role was suddenly absent. I feared our teacher's (who was also our stage director) decision. I wished I could just stop and take Shinji away to safety. But I could not. I just stayed at the side of the stage, behind the curtain, waiting for my cue. I did not know what to expect from my actions. I especially could not shake my feeling of fear whenever I looked at the candle Shinji was holding.

When the show started with Shinji singing, things went well at first. I, along with two other students also wearing their silly costumes, began entering the stage then just bobbed or hopped about as the song went on.

Then a scream was heard. Shinji stopped singing.

One of our performing classmates just lost an arm.

The cause? That damned Kirby again. I had not forgotten that nightmare, and I surely had not forgotten how potentially dangerous he was. That crazed laugh. That blood-covered mouth. But this was just the beginning.

One of the hanging bags above the stage came loose. It fell right on the other performing student, knocking her out. Our teacher ran away. The audience gasped in horror. All of this drove me and Shinji into panic. Shinji just lost all his composure and carelessly threw away his lit candle as he ran away. And considering the materials on stage... and the fact that the school theater was already in a poor condition anyway... Also, the building only had one exit, the same door used as entrance.

No...

Not this again...

Don't remind me...

When I got to the exit, I forgot that I was still in that stupid costume. Those who had yet to run out ended up trying to squeeze me and my large costume through. I practically blocked the doorway. Windows? I did not even think many people even tried to escape from there. The path to the doorway quickly became packed with people. At least, that was what I felt. My back felt very, very heavy. I could breathe the outside air, but I could not move. I was not even sure if Shinji has escaped safely, as I quickly lost sight of him during our panic. I could not do anything. I could not. I couldn't-I couldn't-I couldn't-

...

I woke up.

I wished I ended up visiting my sister instead...

* * *

**4/27/2003**

Shinji invited me to someone's birthday party.

Why, oh why, did things had to go worse...?

I was still traumatized and confused by these nightmares. The most recent ones so far took place at very particular dates this time. Did I really deserve these punishments? This particular date was something special too, if you can call it that.

But I did not say my complaints to Shinji. I took up the invitation. The "special day" nightmares would not occur the third time, right? Pretty sure just mere coincidence, right?

The birthday party took place outdoors. Birthday candles were already blown out, a slice of birthday cake had already been taken, and the invited kids had taken their seats facing a stage. It appeared that the host, whoever that was, hired a stage magician. So childish. First impression alone, he was not promising. Pull a rabbit out of the hat? How about a dead bird instead? My fear began escalating when he called me over to be his volunteer... for a "saw a person in a half" trick. I wanted to refuse, but Shinji kept giving me puzzled looks. He even appeared to about to raise his hand as if he wanted to take my spot before I quickly got up and walked up the stage. I laid down in the box, my head and feet poking out. I looked up in horror as the magician pulled out his saw and began to do his work.

When he got to my flesh, I thought he would stop when I began to wince.

No, that was just false hope.

He kept going.

I screamed in agony. Stuck in this box with no way to struggle. The other kids gasped in surprise, but were practically frozen. Even Shinji. Maybe what happened to me just brought out unspeakable fear. I could not focus. One thing I remembered was the magician finally pulling the sawed box apart after he was done with the cutting. Enjoy the gruesome view of my torn apart body, kids.

I was paralyzed at this point. I could not remember anything else after that.

...

I woke up.

At this point, younger me decided that these nightmares had to be expected more.

* * *

**5/11/2003**

I decided to visit the beach. Spring was not truly over yet. I just needed a place to clear my head yet again. I set down my umbrella and relaxed underneath it.

I began to scan the scenery. I could maybe count the number of people present in one hand. Then again, it was not the time yet. My eyes stopped at one seemingly frantic green-haired man in a red outfit. He was seen trying to push one of the rental motorboats into the water. I did not understand why he was such in a hurry. Then my eyes widened once the man managed to power the engine and leave the shore.

The motorboat left a trail of blood and guts.

Shortly after, seagulls swarmed the trail like moths attracted to a light source. After observing this absurdity, I simply took the next logical step, and that was getting the hell out of that place.

I made the smart move for once.

* * *

**6/8/2003**

Shinji and I decided to go watch a movie. The highly anticipated _Ice Climber_ movie had begun playing in many theaters. It was about a young, well, ice climber battling monstrous bees. It's got action and it's got fighting. Definitely my jam. We got to our local movie theater, bought our tickets and snacks, then took our seats. Fortunately, the movie was just about to start.

It began with a shot of a mountainous scenery set to peaceful music. As the view panned to the right, the movie's title appeared. The titular character was then seen, sitting in front of a healthy flower.

However, the experience began to deteriorate. I had no idea what caused it (and pretty sure Shinji had no clue either), but when conflict between the ice climber and the bees began to escalate, the projection began to flicker. I did not like where this was going. It did not help that the movie's loud volume drowned out any potential signs of danger lurking around us before it was too late.

And that was exactly the case.

I looked back, and I just saw someone decapitated. A killer was on the loose. I warned Shinji about it, but between the flickering, it was hard for us to navigate our way around. It was so hard to see properly that I ended up at the front without realizing. And I was greeted with the sight of the killer.

It was the same plumber guy that ruined my birthday last year.

Before I was able to run away, I received a harsh blow to my jaw. I was left stunned, but I did not die. I just could not move. I did manage to take one good look at the pool of blood in front of me, and another decapitated person. I then remembered what just hit me. Did he just... use a human victim as bludgeon? No kidding, he was stronger than he looked.

Then, another realization.

Where's Shinji?!

I tried to get up. I could not. I tried to at least move my head. I could not. It was painful.

I heard a scream.

It was Shinji's.

...

I woke up.

...Did I really die from that? Or were the nightmares something else? At least, that was what I thought.

* * *

**9/28/2003**

Autumn was setting in. However, this year I missed out on my summer swims, so I decided to just take one last opportunity on this date to make up for it. It was not because of my fears. I knew swimming was risky to begin with. It was because, ever since that theater nightmare, I began to think over the incidents a lot to the point I lost concentration on my every day life for quite a while. That particular incident was different. I was not even sure I died. All I remembered was I closed my eyes. I did not even want to think about what happened to Shinji. But at the very least, he's still alive after I woke up. That was enough to make me feel relieved. It made me think of another thing, but I was not sure if it was the right time to associate it just yet. There was more to these nightmares, I thought.

Anyway, I went to the nearby water park. Whatever happened at the beach back in May made me not risk myself even more.

I was dumb for thinking this place was any safer. I was dumb for giving in to my search for thrill despite my thoughts earlier.

After an hour of a good swimming session, I looked up to see the water park's main attraction: the water slides. Honestly, I missed the tense yet not-really-likely-to-kill situations. Younger me thought the water slides would be well-maintained enough. But refer to my earlier statements about how dumb I was. Needless to say, I remembered the light at the end of the slide appearing much earlier than I thought. And the water was not where I landed.

...

I woke up.

I guess I really deserved it.

* * *

**10/31/2003**

Shinji suddenly showed up at my door one night, dressed as a medieval swordsman. He was telling me that we should be trying this "trick or treat" thing because many people did it and we had not done it yet. He did not understand the context of the event, but he insisted. He also told me that it would be better if I wore a costume. Again, it was hard to turn him down, so I prepared. Looking from my window, it appeared that the costumes can be just anything. The closest thing I had was an old cowboy costume. Honestly, I looked ridiculous in that costume. It just did not suit me, but I just went with it. I mean, it was my first time taking part in this activity. After making sure I did not forget anything else, I went outside and began this "trick or treat" activity with Shinji.

On our way, we noticed other familiar faces, our classmates, in fact. All of them in costume, of course, so we joined them. At one point, we had to cross the road. Thankfully, the approaching truck was kind enough to stop first as we looked around. With that, we began making our way across.

The truck suddenly accelerated, running straight into us. I could feel my head scraping against the ground, one of my eyes being pulled out of its socket from the impact, and another sharp pain from a deep cut forming on my torso. I thought that was it, but...

I heard bloodcurdling screams. One after another. Were they from the other victims? Terrified bystanders? I was sure I was dead that time, so what's with those almost inhuman screams? It felt like forever.

...

I woke up.

At this point, younger me began to accept that these nightmares were a normal thing to happen. And I had to live through the pain before waking up.

* * *

**12/15/2005**

I managed to live, for the first time in my life, an entire year without those nightmares. I thought I was wrong about them being a normal part of life. I thought those eventually stopped appearing after a long while. But that still took a toll on my childhood innocence. I was in middle school already at this time.

Anyway, after that realization, I began to try to reclaim my lost childhood as much as possible. And, considering the current agenda, what better to do than cause trouble during a class trip? Especially with Shinji? The thought of that drove me ecstatic. As long as whatever I did would not obviously lead to something fatal, I would be fine, right?

On this particular date, the school decided to take us to the zoo. Don't ask why there was a sudden trip to such place during early winter. I was much happier than before. Our teacher told us to control our behavior and take notes about every animal we visited so we could make our own report later. But I already planned my own thing, and I was pretty sure Shinji agreed to follow me on it, so I was not afraid to not care about the assignment. The moment our teacher began deciding which exhibit to see was when we and our classmates began to scatter. Scattering into different directions was enough to confuse him. Of course, Shinji tagged along with me.

The first thing we ended up facing was a very tall wooden fence. There's a hole we could peek through, but it was too high to reach. I insisted I check what's beyond the fence, so Shinji agreed to be on all fours while I stood on his back. He was still a physically tough guy, so he did not complain much. Through the hole, I could see something large and gray. It looked tough-skinned too. I wondered if I could tick it off. So, I asked Shinji to grab a nearby fallen tree branch and hand it to me.

I began poking the animal. No response.

I poked it several times. Not moving at all.

After multiple failed attempts, I decided to just leave the place, just as our teacher was about to catch us. I could not care any less. Until... I spotted a baboon. Outside its cage. With no restraints. I froze when I saw what it had in its possession: a camera belonging to one of our classmates. Pretty sure it just stole it. Nothing wrong with the owner... right?

My fears resurfaced when the baboon bared its teeth and gave me a threatening glare. I backed off slowly. I then ran to the opposite direction.

I ended up running straight into the tough-looking animal I saw earlier. It was a rhinoceros, and it was actually running as well. I believe the fence was no more.

You may imagine how it feels to have the big animal's horn piercing deep through your eye.

...

I woke up.

I was wrong for believing that my nightmares had ended.


	4. Striking Fear

**9/25/2006**

I thought life just pulled a sick joke on me. A joke of a belated birthday gift, as I would call.

I thought the reminder from last year was enough to smack me back to my reality.

I was already accepting that this is how I live. Real pain, intense awakening, and all that came with the package.

I was already accepting that my reality was as twisted as it could be.

Then this series of deaths happened. Over the course of more than three months. As if I needed a more figurative (and sometimes literal) hammer to the face.

Life just pulled a sick joke on me.

* * *

On this date, I was visiting the amusement park. As I already accepted my messed up life, I just tried to live as normal as I could be, albeit with the horrific deaths. I was fine for some thrills this time. I could not count how many times I had ridden the park's signature roller coaster. At least if I died there, I would die in excitement.

It was strange that I was saddened by the ride ending up in a sudden maintenance after another round had me almost falling to my doom because the carts got stuck on one of the upside-down portions. Then again, the ride just looked weirdly designed in general. I did not know how to describe it. The paths just looked as messy as badly bundled up hairs. There were branched paths. The carts would pick a random path every round whenever those came up. Other than tunnels, there were strange obstacle courses too, if I could call them that. One of them involved glass or something. I never went through that particular one, at least.

At least the maintenance did not take long. I took another round, blissfully excited like before. I enjoyed the high speed, the strange turns, and the tunnel section on one of the branched paths.

A tunnel section that managed to break me apart because it was poorly built and too small.

...

I woke up.

* * *

**September 2006**

Since then, my mind practically broke apart. My acceptance seemed to bring all of this upon myself.

For the rest of the month, as well as the next three after this, I pretty much died almost every day.

The day after the roller coaster incident, I died of fatal infection after a mud fight gone wrong.

The day after that, I was killed in a hit-and-run.

And every single time, I woke up on my bed the next day and life went on as if none of the horrors had happened.

* * *

**October 2006**

I was murdered by the host of a birthday party I was invited to. I died in a car crash. I slipped and fell into a deep well.

I could not comprehend this. I was struck with fear once again. Did whatever caused this really take my acceptance of my deaths being routine quite literally?

One day, I was grateful that I managed to escape, albeit with bruises, from a friend's house when a giant squid-like thing suddenly appeared out of nowhere. This was insane. On the other hand... I failed to save anyone entangled by that thing. Including Shinji. I was scared. Really scared. So scared, I refused to look back and tried to block out the scream. Did those creatures of the night finally seeped in outside that hour? No time to think about that, I thought. I just ran aimlessly to at least get as far away from that place as possible. And that aimless running led me to a brand new overpass.

Which was questionably brittle despite being open for access.

It predictably crumbled.

I fell several meters to the road below.

...

I woke up.

I quickly looked out the window. I got dressed and walked outside. I looked in almost every familiar spot in town.

I just wanted to know if Shinji was alive.

I walked around the beach. Alone. The sounds of the sea and my own footsteps were the only things filling in my silence. I was desperate.

Then I finally found him. Coincidentally, he also spotted me.

After a short greeting from him and a sigh of relief from myself, I noticed a bottle in his hands. There was a rolled up paper inside. Classic message in a bottle. I asked him where he found it. He said that he just found it randomly washed up at the very same beach. Now that I was there, he was wondering if we should check its content together. I agreed. He pulled out the cork with ease and shook the bottle upside-down to get the paper out.

It turned out to be a treasure map. It had all the drawn landmarks and spots of interest and everything, including the dashed lines representing the exact route taken to reach the "X" marked on one corner of the map. What was intriguing was a particular drawing of two figures, one of them colored gold. No idea who those figures were. Looking closer, we began to feel disturbed. The two figures looked like they were in the middle of a struggle. The non-gold figure appeared to be suffocating. These figures were located close to the "X", which was on the space representing the ocean. Was this a treasure map, or some kind of cryptic message?

We had no clue what it was, but Shinji decided to keep it, thinking that he could try to find out about it later.

I would not be surprised if the map was a sign of something more ominous.

* * *

I fell into sharp rocks during a camping trip. I got eaten by an orca on a long trip gone wrong.

Before I woke up this time... I experienced something more dreamy. Or was it not? At this point, I could not separate what's real and what's not anymore. I just knew it felt different because I woke up in a small glass room. I looked to the sides. There were other rooms like mine. I could spot Shinji who seemed to be in the furthest one. Then I looked at the front. It was a really huge room. I spotted a table, a doorway, some cooking utensils... What's this place? This looked more like the inside of a normal house, I thought. Then I finally realized something.

All the objects were huge. Gigantic huge. I looked up. The containment had some kind of red cover. We were trapped in gigantic jar. This had to be a dream.

A huge, burly turtle then entered the room. He did not bother to look at us at first. He went straight to the table and began cutting a carrot. Then a knock on the door was heard. A few seconds later, I could notice something pink scurrying towards a mouse hole. Was it Jigglypuff? Its tiny size made it hard to tell. Anyway, the turtle, now angry, walked to the mouse hole and placed a trap. Maybe it really was just a vermin. The turtle went back to the table, and that was when he decided to look at us. His huge, clawed hand began to hover over the containers. I was the first in the line, and his hand just skipped me over. I was not relieved. No. I got worried. The hand moved further and further...

The turtle picked Shinji.

I just watched as the turtle opened the jar containing my friend and dropped him on the table. The turtle held him up... then bashed his head against the large bowl. Like cracking an egg. What. The. Hell.

That's it. I could not stomach this further. This dream, or whatever it was, seemed to purposefully torment me. It was enough being reminded of my sister a lot. I could not bear to see my best friend being murdered right before my eyes while I was stuck in one place, unable to do anything. I wished to wake up already.

...

I got my wish. But that sight had broken me further.

This year's October closed with memories of me dying in a bus crash and falling from a great height.

* * *

**November 2006**

I was playing soccer with a friend one day. It was a nice break from my usual hobby of boxing. I enjoyed every moment of it.

Until I spotted a doctor chasing down a rolling heart. Real, bloody heart. It even left a blood trail. It eventually rolled down straight to the field we were on. I just stared at the heart, dumbfounded. It was until my friend, who was the goalkeeper, threw the ball back at me. It hit my head, snapping me out of it. The ball bounced away... and it landed on the heart with a squish. I saw the doctor sighing in disappointment before immediately leaving as if he was in a hurry. But that image would forever be engraved in my mind.

As for the rest of this year's November, from what I remember...

I died in a building collapse as the town went down in chaos.

I took a part-time job as a stunt performer for a circus. I lost half of my body during the human cannonball stunt.

I died from a plane crashing down on me while I was revisiting the playground from my childhood. Nice reminder that I died exactly like that.

I attempted another part-time job. This time as a newspaper editor. I mysteriously froze to death for no apparent reason. I recalled that the air conditioner was not even that cold.

I helped some friends with a house construction. I got into a woodchipper-related accident.

I was doing some errand. Got run over by a train without warning.

* * *

**December 2006**

I was sitting on the bench alone. I just sipped from my cup of warm coffee, against the colder weather. I was too devastated to do anything else. All of my deaths really got to me. What is the point of living if I just suffer nearly every day? Am I really stuck like this for all eternity? Why does it have to be me?

Then, as if to mock me further, someone walked by and plopped something into my cup. The sight and smell of the pouch made me nearly vomit. Somebody, for no reason but to insult my existence, decided to just drop small gathered remains of bloody flesh. I could not take it anymore. I had to try something. Perhaps, if only... if only... I could will it...

I walked to the beach. The weather was getting colder. Perfect. I knew this was not going to be easy. I knew I should expect pain and struggling before death consumed me. I knew it would not be instant. This place was my only choice. With no one around, no one would stop me or witness it in horror. I inhaled deeply, then exhaled. I began walking to the water. I will not bother describing how my suicide went.

...

I woke up.

And that's why I chose to not explain. It was pointless.

In the middle of my contemplation, I suddenly heard a ring. I was told that there was a package addressed to me. But there was no sender info. I would not be surprised by the content. After accepting it, I simply thanked the mailman and went back to my room. I would not let anyone else look at whatever was inside this package. I knew it looked wrong to begin with by the large dent on the top and how slightly uneven the box's shape was.

I opened the box.

It was a bloody mess of a crushed yellow critter.

* * *

I was cut up during an airplane ride. I choked to death from accidentally swallowing some mysterious liquid. I died from a fatal blood transfusion due to certain circumstances that I would rather not explain. I was murdered by criminals.

...

It was **December 25, 2006**.

At afternoon, Shinji and I were rediscovering our old toys from our childhood. Among them were our various attempts at making our own tin can telephone. You know, using two cans connected to each other via a wire to talk to each other from a distance? We knew nothing of walkie-talkies back then, and the orphanage did not have them at all, so these were our only communication-based toys. Only one of these telephones was properly built, our mark of success. Others used other items which, looking back, were absurd choices for can replacements. There was one made out of (now broken) coffee cups, and one made out of a pepper shaker and a large barrel. The only consistent thing between these attempts was the wire.

We tried out our can phone. It did not work? Turns out, we forgot something. Well, it was a long time ago anyway. I asked Shinji to step backwards quite a distance so the wire tugged. Unfortunately, Shinji got too far and accidentally let his strength do the work, causing the wire to snap. We just broke our only working tin can telephone. But that was not all.

I also ended up losing my balance and fell forward. The left side of my face landed straight on the broken cup phone.

Perhaps that was quite a wake-up call. After Shinji helped bandaging my wounds, I was no longer in the mood to reminisce. I said goodbye to Shinji and went straight back home. I thought I would go back to being my depressed self, but that was not the case. As if by convenience, I remembered that I was pointed to be the host of the upcoming party tonight. The others in my small circle of friends had already taken their turns, so I had no choice. If I refused, I feared I would involve them in my own drama. I would rather suffer on my own.

At evening, I had prepared everything needed. Decorations, food and drink, table and seat arrangement, music player... This looked more like a birthday party setup, but it was the best I could do. I remembered I requested Shinji to prepare some carrot cake. Well... there had to be cake somewhere in a given party. The night was still young, so I just waited for Shinji outside, hoping he would arrive before everyone else. It was cold, but I considered checking from the outside easier.

Of course, shortly after I stepped outside, things had to be ruined.

A helicopter flew out of control and ended up barreling towards the building I was standing by. It was so sudden that it was late for me to escape into safety. The helicopter spun around as it neared me... its rotating tail rotor coming after me...

...

I woke up.

* * *

**12/26/2006**

Shinji invited me to go to the amusement park with him. As usual, I simply accepted.

One roller coaster ride later, Shinji suddenly asked me to talk about something. After taking our seats by a food court, he began to speak. I soon learned that he noticed my strange behavior.

"You're different now. But not in a good way."

Straight to the point and blunt. As much as we often fought each other or exchanged some harsh words, I like this aspect of Shinji. However, I decided to wait before I spill the truth.

"What's gotten into that little head of yours?"

Or not.

I began by apologizing. Of course Shinji would counter that by asking me to go straight to the point. So, without wasting any more time, I began to explain as much as I could about my problems. He just sat still, listening.

"Is that all you're complaining about?"

I nodded.

"While I can't see for myself if you waking up every death is true, if I were you I'd consider it a gift. You die, you wake, yet life still goes on. You're goddamn immortal, moron."

But I would rather not lie. This is not what I wanted in life.

"Sigh... you'll always be a kid. At least that aspect remains unchanged."

I would not lie about that either. No matter how much I had grown, I still had my awful moments.

"Look, alleged constant dying aside, you're still here. I'm still alive. Can't you just NOT being in panic mode all the damn time? I'm sick of it. I thought that we got over it years ago."

I remembered that. The time I distanced myself from Shinji for the first time. The time I was killed by Shinji's hands. When I told that part of the past, he remained indifferent.

"Even if I do remember that I had murdered you before, it doesn't change the fact that you're only destroying yourself, Aki."

I remained silent. After a while, suddenly Shinji stood up.

"Now, follow me."

I did as told. We exited the amusement park. After a while walking, he eventually led me back to my home. I was confused, but I just kept going with his orders when he asked me to enter the building and then go straight to my room. He began opening my wardrobe and scattering many of my clothes stored there. I was baffled by this.

"Tidy-looking yet disorganized. Tch."

I watched him pulling out a cowboy hat, a red bandanna, a blue vest, and a belt from the pile. He then dressed himself up with those. Well, as much as his body size could allow. Those were parts of my old cowboy costume. No idea why I decided to keep those. After that, he threw me another costume. This one was relatively newer. It was an astronaut costume.

"I thought I would comment more, but this getup already speaks for itself."

Shinji was right. Every time I went out for those "trick or treat" stuff, I would always wear the same cowboy costume. Once it got too small for my liking, I mostly went without costume, just casual clothes, until I decided to buy myself an astronaut costume last year.

"I want you to put that on."

I was still confused, but I just did as what I was told.

"Now, look at me, then yourself. How do you feel about this stupid costume on me?"

I cringed. The cowboy costume parts looked terrible regardless of whether Shinji wore them or not. They were all worn out, some appeared to be partially torn. They were all dusty too.

"I'm pretty sure you have an idea why you picked that spaceman suit. But why do you still choose the keep these in your wardrobe when it's obvious you no longer need it?"

I was speechless. I personally had no clue.

"This really speaks of your mindset."

I wanted to counter his statement, but I could not.

"You often keep the negative fragments of your past, even though they're not worth recalling. Unnecessary things just fade eventually. Stop constantly looking back."

I stayed silent.

"Now how about your costume? How do you feel about it?"

I just dropped any sense of vagueness and told him that I felt comfortable in it.

"Then that's it. Apply the same logic. I won't argue whether your problems are real or not. Since you already know for sure that every time you die you bend reality to your will, just live with it."

Now I regretted not realizing my ability much sooner back in my childhood. I could have saved Miki. Then again, it was the first time and thus was way too early to know about its additional effects. But if I complain about it now, I knew Shinji would reprimand me even more. I just said that I understand it now.

"It's already too obvious of a solution, idiot. Now, forget your pain, no matter how bad it is, and go back to being yourself."

We took off the costumes. Stupid as it was, at least Shinji had a good intention. We then tidied up my wardrobe before leaving. Outside the building, we were about to go somewhere else when Shinji, with a smirk, suddenly asked me this.

"So, how do your deaths usually go?"

As if to demonstrate, an out-of-control truck suddenly appeared from a random street and barreled straight at both of us. We were crushed between the heavy vehicle and the building.

...

I woke up.


	5. Killing Time

Strangely enough, my deaths were not as routine as they were last year.

* * *

**10/24/2007**

It had been 20 days since... a certain incident. It was at that moment that I learned how my ability actually worked... and I hated it when it was too late.

It was at this year that I gained a power known as "Persona," which allows me to summon a being representing my other self, in this case Polydeuces. I had been in this particular school club dealing with beings known as Shadows as well as the mysterious 25th hour that I had been experiencing since a long time ago for quite a while. I was grateful that there are other people that experience the same thing. But that incident... the moment Shinji accidentally claimed someone's life in front of our eyes... I hated myself for freezing up and not immediately going for a suicide right then and there. I actually went through it by the time the hidden hour ended. When I woke up another day, my face fell when I could still see and read the newspapers depicting, according to them, the mysterious death at the location our mission took place in. Maybe I had a limited time to twist reality before the dead stayed dead. It was similar to Miki, but I did not know much about my ability back then. Since then, Shinji left the club and became the one who distanced from everyone. I felt like a failure. At least, these were all what I thought.

But, like Shinji said last year, I had to learn to move on. It's harder that it sounds.

On this particular date, I decided to spend the afternoon playing baseball with my classmates. I just needed an excuse to clear my head. I was tempted to invite Shinji, but it was not possible. Anyway, my classmates that were present that time include Falco the literal bird person, Marth the sword expert, and some guy who was apparently Marth's friend, I forgot his name. I became the pitcher for this game, while Falco and Marth's friend were the batters, taking turns. Marth defended the bases. Yes, no one else. I know, too few people, but then again, I did not befriend many people and I would rather hang out with the closest.

I threw the ball. Falco swung his bat at the ball so hard, it flew over my outstretched hand and eventually outside the field, over the fence. I decided to be the one picking it up. I ran over to the fence and climbed over. But in the process, I lost my balance and ended up falling over. Straight into an adult-sized hole just beyond.

When I got my bearings, a shiver ran down my spine. The open field we played on was next to the graveyard. This hole appeared to be newly dug up, serving its purpose as a place for a new coffin. I then heard an engine noise. I could see, from my viewpoint, the back of a truck approaching. Realizing what this could mean, I began climbing up. Perhaps this was actually the result of grave moving.

I was too late. The truck quickly dumped a large amount of dirt into the hole. I tried clawing my way out, but it was too much. I began to suffocate... This was really my grave...

...

I woke up.

Being buried alive just sounded more fitting.

* * *

**11/27/2007**

November was going to end. December, the month of holidays, was almost here. Instead of having nothing for this year, I decided to go buy something for myself.

I went to a toy store owned by Bowser. Remember that gigantic turtle from one of my dreams, or whatever I could call it? He was real, and seeing his image on the store's sign made me shudder. Considering my encounter with killers in the past, however, I tried to assume that he might be a decent guy. I entered the store.

I met Jigglypuff there. It had been a while, and her smile still made me feel relaxed. She was checking out the toys there too. After a short greeting, I began browsing the place. It seemed to have a good selection of toys. Traditional wooden toys, board games, dolls... there was a lot of variety. I looked at the doorway when the store's ring was heard. It was Bowser himself, wearing a top hat and a tuxedo (not sure how he could wear it under his shell). He paid no attention to the customers, just walking straight to the counter. He hung his hat on a coat hanger, then entered the staff room behind the counter.

As I browsed the store, I began trying out the toys I was interested in. Though I could not just get anything that simply caught my eye, only if it was worth my money. At this point, I was trying out a toy robot. Suddenly, a scream was heard, followed by something falling on the table I was facing. It was a severed finger, fresh blood leaking out and all. Remembering my dream, I would rather not take any risks and decided to exit the store without buying anything. I managed to get Jigglypuff out too by convincing her that there was an interesting place she should check out. At least that part was surprisingly easy.

* * *

**10/18/2008**

This day was weird.

Without any explanation, these green... clones... of Bowser suddenly appeared and terrorized the town, or so it seemed. From their behavior, they did not seem to be outright malicious, just dumb. Some were seen mindlessly cutting some wood as if they were slaves. Some were seen cleaning the window or planting flowers. Some even managed to accidentally kill themselves. One managed to cut the other with an axe. One accidentally burned itself. But some managed to kill people. A woman's head got hit by a hammer held by one. A mailman just lost his entire face from one of those things.

Then I got chased by one.

I knew that my deaths were something normal to me, but the idea of being chased by a murderer still scared me. Sure this Bowser clone was running after me while holding up a mop, but considering how the others were killed by these things' use of mundane tools, I thought it was justified.

It eventually caught up to me, hitting my head with the mop's handle. I lost my balance and fell over. Shortly after, I began to feel excruciating pain. It stomped my legs, outright breaking my bones underneath all that weight. I just screamed in agony, but it would not stop. Before I knew it, my body had been crushed into a pulp.

...

I woke up. I was not even sure if it was an experiment gone wrong or merely a dream.

* * *

It was the spring of **2009**. My final year of high school began here.

Starting from that time...

I finally met her.

I thought that she would be just another member of the club, albeit with a more unique ability that made her more versatile in combat. I thought that she would be just another Yukari Takeba. But no, this newcomer named Kotone Shiomi was intriguing. She reminded me of Jigglypuff in a way. She has the smile and energetic personality like her, yet she can be serious in certain situations and outright merciless against the Shadows. Outside our club life, she seems to be just as kind to others, and always looks busy. She joined many school clubs, would do many errands, and would spend her time with various people, myself included. I even heard that she was even chosen to join the student council. She looks as if she can not simply stay and do nothing. However, there is something else about her. Not sure what, but it is definitely not related to her combat ability. Perhaps I can gradually learn more about her the more often we talk to each other.

* * *

**7/20/2009**

The club was on vacation after the final exams after the first half of the school year. We ended up visiting an island. It also happened that the father of my fellow colleague Mitsuru was also there. Let's just say that talking about a certain truth brought a really heavy atmosphere with us. Visiting her father supposedly would make things clearer to the juniors.

After spending some time at the beach, but before returning to the mansion, we were told that a convention was taking place on the island. And as we're endorsed by Mitsuru's father, we were given special ID cards free of charge. Though reactions were mixed, I was curious, so why not. I checked the venue.

The convention center was not too far away from the mansion. As expected, the security would not bother stopping us thanks to our IDs. There were a lot of people visiting inside. There were several stalls too. But... these all seemed to be "nerdy" stuff, for lack of a better word. The tables had figurines, comic books, and other stuff which I would expect Junpei Iori to have. I would not bother with this huge amount of crowd, so I decided to check another place. One room was apparently going to be used for some kind of celebrity panel, whatever it was. There were less people there, so out of curiosity, I decided to attend that event. I just needed to kill time.

It took a while to wait before the celebrity in question finally showed up. He appeared to be a red-haired swordsman. The outfit reminds me of Shinji's costume when we went "trick-or-treating" for the first time. I wonder what Shinji himself would think about this.

I began to have an uneasy feeling when the microphone on the podium suddenly broke apart when the celeb tested it. After that, the speakers, with no explanation, suddenly blasted a really loud screech that I thought lasted a few seconds, but it felt forever. It was painful. Shortly after, things took a turn for the worse. While the screeches were gone, I practically lost my hearing and was left dazed. Shortly after, I felt intense heat.

I caught fire from behind. As I tried to extinguish it, I looked around. The rest of the audience were burning too. I could not hear the screams, but it was better not to. Their horrified faces were enough. I had no idea where the flames came from. Suddenly, I spotted cracks forming on the walls. Parts of the building began to crumble...

...

I woke up, back at the mansion.

* * *

**9/14/2009**

Honestly, expecting something horribly wrong to happen every day was expected. I tried and tried to follow Shinji's words, no matter how difficult. But what made me absolutely shocked... was this particular incident.

School was in session when it happened, but it took until lunchtime for me to notice that students and teachers had gathered near the entrance to the girls' restroom. Normally I would dismiss this, as I still had my own deaths to look forward to. If I was fated to die that day, then they would come back anyway. However, what I heard made me froze.

Kotone and Mitsuru died from a mysterious cause in the stalls.

I began listening in, not wanting to get any closer to the place. Apparently one student just saw Kotone running towards the restroom. Shortly after, a scream was heard. Immediately after that, Mitsuru's voice was heard. It was implied that she was scared, threatened by something. Several screams and flesh-tearing sounds later, and that was it. When the student peeked in, all she saw were blood splatters. Their bodies were nowhere to be found. There was nothing that could be linked to their deaths either.

I was speechless. This should feel normal to me, but I could not shake the fear away. What was wrong with me...? In fact, the news blew me away so much, I just went straight to bed once I got home, club conflicts be damned, forgetting that I could just commit suicide to undo all this.

...

* * *

I was surprised when I spotted Kotone and Mitsuru in the dorm's lounge the next morning. They did not appear to be aware of yesterday's incident.


	6. Blood Run Cold

Today is **November 6, 2009**.

So many things have happened the last few months. More of the Shadow fighting, Shinji being shot, that damned Chairman... I am still mad at myself for not even being able to alter the unfortunate events. Why, of all things, am I not allowed to avert Shinji's fate this time? Why can't my ability can be used to alter reality overall, not just other people's injuries or deaths, thus giving me a chance to change the circumstances regarding the revelation? I have tried. I really do. But life still goes on as if I have not died and live through the schedule as normal. What are the true limits of my ability exactly?

I have been questioning myself a lot more these days. I know I should keep moving forward. How many times do I have to re-state myself? But today is definitely strange, though. Possibly more so.

The weather is unusually hot today.

In the afternoon, I have arrived at the dorm much earlier than usual. I am drenched in sweat. And it is not from my boxing club or jogging. As I cool down at the lounge, thoughts begin to race through my mind. Mitsuru... Life is not fair to her either. Her father was also shot, and I am also unable to undo this. The truth about his death is also covered up as this occurred during the 25th hour. She has not spoken a word to us since then. Kotone does not take this well either, yet she tries to stay positive. Well... since that awkward confession more than a week ago, I can say I am already used to her behavior. But she still has that seriousness in her eyes, and I still can not mess with her.

Some time later, the front door opens. I am immediately greeted with a sight of Kotone with Yukari and Junpei helping her walk. She appears to be staggering and wincing from pain. Junpei is not wearing his jacket. He uses it to cover Kotone's body. Her two friends have a tense expression on their faces, filled with worry.

Seeing this, I quickly shoot them a question. Yukari explains that on their way home, Kotone was planning to visit the shrine, but when she got there, her back spontaneously burst into flames. As this happened outside the hidden hour, they could only try to put out the fire to their best of their (normal) ability. Once they managed to do so, Junpei offered his jacket to cover up the burns as the three went home, cancelling Kotone's earlier plan. As they explain, I quickly make an emergency call. While waiting for a response, I am hearing more of their story. I begin to feel unnerved when Junpei comments that they spotted nobody else on their way home, as if the entire city after they got off the train is deserted.

With no one responding my phone call, I have a feeling that Junpei is right. With only our best knowledge on how to handle burns, we just try to treat Kotone's injuries. I hate to admit that it makes her suffering worse as we are no experts on this. I am so sorry...

At night, my mind wonders about the strange day. The sudden blazing hot weather, Kotone suddenly catching fire, the city being inexplicably empty... Does this have anything to do with our hidden hour activities? Is this another strangeness like the 25th hour? Is this an ominous sign of something worse?

I end up falling asleep.

...

* * *

Today is **November 6, 2009**.

So many things have happened the last few months. More of the Shadow fighting, Shinji being shot, that damned Chairman... I am still mad at myself for not even being able to alter the unfortunate events. Why, of all things, am I not allowed to avert Shinji's fate this time? Why can't my ability can be used to alter reality overall, not just other people's injuries or deaths, thus giving me a chance to change the circumstances regarding the revelation? I have tried. I really do. But life still goes on as if I have not died and live through the schedule as normal. What are the true limits of my ability exactly?

I have been questioning myself a lot more these days. I know I should keep moving forward. How many times do I have to re-state myself? But today is definitely strange, though. Possibly more so.

The weather is unusually hot today.

In the afternoon, I have arrived at the dorm much earlier than usual. I am drenched in sweat. And it is not from my boxing club or jogging. As I cool down at the lounge, thoughts begin to race through my mind. Mitsuru... Life is not fair to her either. Her father was also shot, and I am also unable to undo this. The truth about his death is also covered up as this occurred during the 25th hour. She has not spoken a word to us since then. Kotone does not take this well either, yet she tries to stay positive. Well... since that awkward confession more than a week ago, I can say I am already used to her behavior. But she still has that seriousness in her eyes, and I still can not mess with her.

Some time later, the front door opens. I am immediately greeted with a sight of Kotone with Yukari and Junpei helping her walk. She appears to be staggering and wincing from pain. Junpei is not wearing his jacket. He uses it to cover Kotone's body. Her two friends have a tense expression on their faces, filled with worry.

Seeing this, I quickly shoot them a question. Yukari explains that on their way home, Kotone was planning to spend the afternoon at another playground in the city, despite the weather. After going down a slide once, her back spontaneously burst into flames. As this happened outside the hidden hour, they could only try to put out the fire to their best of their (normal) ability. Once they managed to do so, Junpei offered his jacket to cover up the burns as the three went home, cancelling Kotone's earlier plan. As they explain, I quickly make an emergency call. While waiting for a response, I am hearing more of their story. I begin to feel unnerved when Junpei comments that they spotted nobody else on their way home, as if the entire city after they got off the train is deserted.

With no one responding my phone call, I have a feeling that Junpei is right. With only our best knowledge on how to handle burns, we just try to treat Kotone's injuries. I hate to admit that it makes her suffering worse as we are no experts on this. I am so sorry...

At night, my mind wonders about the strange day. The sudden blazing hot weather, Kotone suddenly catching fire, the city being inexplicably empty... Does this have anything to do with our hidden hour activities? Is this another strangeness like the 25th hour? Is this an ominous sign of something worse?

I end up falling asleep.

...

* * *

Today is **November 6, 2009**.

So many things have happened the last few months. More of the Shadow fighting, Shinji being shot, that damned Chairman... I am still mad at myself for not even being able to alter the unfortunate events. Why, of all things, am I not allowed to avert Shinji's fate this time? Why can't my ability can be used to alter reality overall, not just other people's injuries or deaths, thus giving me a chance to change the circumstances regarding the revelation? I have tried. I really do. But life still goes on as if I have not died and live through the schedule as normal. What are the true limits of my ability exactly?

I have been questioning myself a lot more these days. I know I should keep moving forward. How many times do I have to re-state myself? But today is definitely strange, though. Possibly more so.

The weather is unusually hot today.

In the afternoon, I have arrived at the dorm much earlier than usual. I am drenched in sweat. And it is not from my boxing club or jogging. As I cool down at the lounge, thoughts begin to race through my mind. Mitsuru... Life is not fair to her either. Her father was also shot, and I am also unable to undo this. The truth about his death is also covered up as this occurred during the 25th hour. She has not spoken a word to us since then. Kotone does not take this well either, yet she tries to stay positive. Well... since that awkward confession more than a week ago, I can say I am already used to her behavior. But she still has that seriousness in her eyes, and I still can not mess with her.

Some time later, the front door opens. I am immediately greeted with a sight of Kotone with Yukari and Junpei helping her walk. She appears to be staggering and wincing from pain. Junpei is not wearing his jacket. He uses it to cover Kotone's body. Her two friends have a tense expression on their faces, filled with worry.

Seeing this, I quickly shoot them a question. Yukari explains that on their way home, Kotone's back spontaneously burst into flames. As this happened outside the hidden hour, they could only try to put out the fire to their best of their (normal) ability. Once they managed to do so, Junpei offered his jacket to cover up the burns as the three went home, cancelling Kotone's earlier plan. As they explain, I quickly make an emergency call. While waiting for a response, I am hearing more of their story. I begin to feel unnerved when Junpei comments that they spotted nobody else on their way home, as if the entire city after they got off the train is deserted.

With no one responding my phone call, I have a feeling that Junpei is right. With only our best knowledge on how to handle burns, we just try to treat Kotone's injuries. I hate to admit that it makes her suffering worse as we are no experts on this. I am so sorry...

At night, my mind wonders about the strange day. The sudden blazing hot weather, Kotone suddenly catching fire, the city being inexplicably empty... Does this have anything to do with our hidden hour activities? Is this another strangeness like the 25th hour? Is this an ominous sign of something worse?

I end up falling asleep.

...

* * *

Today is **November 6, 2009**.

So many things have happened the last few months. More of the Shadow fighting, Shinji being shot, that damned Chairman... I am still mad at myself for not even being able to alter the unfortunate events. Why, of all things, am I not allowed to avert Shinji's fate this time? Why can't my ability can be used to alter reality overall, not just other people's injuries or deaths, thus giving me a chance to change the circumstances regarding the revelation? I have tried. I really do. But life still goes on as if I have not died and live through the schedule as normal. What are the true limits of my ability exactly?

I have been questioning myself a lot more these days. I know I should keep moving forward. How many times do I have to re-state myself? But today is definitely strange, though. Possibly more so.

The weather is unusually hot today.

...

Wait a minute, is it just me or have I been repeating the exact same tasks over and over? Sure repeated tasks are normal in our schedules, but I begin to have some kind of nagging feeling. Even if I do repeat the same exact tasks, down to the same exact processes, it might be just some coincidence. I am not sure anymore.

On my way home, I decide to stop by the playground. It is easier to get tired from this strange change in weather. There are other people there, sure, but they are just as tired and sweaty as I am. An ice cream truck, which I believe is taking advantage of this condition, happens to pass by. But what the hell, I decide to give in to their business tactic. I buy one ice cream cone. Anything to help me cool down, I guess, even if I dislike the taste.

When I turn around, I am surprised by a plump plumber in red. He appears to be after my ice cream. It is cheap, so why he decides to threaten me over it is anyone's guess. I try to back off. I trip backwards. When I look up, I see a large gorilla wearing a red tie. He must be the one causing it. Cornered by the two figures while feeling exhausted, I can only expect them to just take my snack and abandon me. Of course it is not an easy one.

The gorilla raises his fist and crashes it down on my face.

...

* * *

Today is **November 6, 2009**.

The weather is unusually hot today.

In the afternoon, I have arrived at the dorm much earlier than usual. I am drenched in sweat. And it is not from my boxing club or jogging. As I cool down at the lounge, thoughts begin to race through my mind. Mitsuru... Life is not fair to her either. Her father was shot, yet I am unable to undo this. The truth about his death is also covered up as this occurred during the 25th hour. She has not spoken a word to us since then. Kotone does not take this well either, yet she tries to stay positive. Well... since that awkward confession more than a week ago, I can say I am already used to her behavior. But she still has that seriousness in her eyes, and I still can not mess with her.

Some time later, the front door opens. I am immediately greeted with a sight of Kotone with Yukari and Junpei helping her walk. She appears to be staggering and wincing from pain. Junpei is not wearing his jacket. He uses it to cover Kotone's body. Her two friends have a tense expression on their faces, filled with worry.

Seeing this, I quickly shoot them a question. Yukari explains that on their way home, Kotone was planning to visit the shrine, but when she got there, her back spontaneously burst into flames. As this happened outside the hidden hour, they could only try to put out the fire to their best of their (normal) ability. Once they managed to do so, Junpei offered his jacket to cover up the burns as the three went home, cancelling Kotone's earlier plan. As they explain, I quickly make an emergency call. While waiting for a response, I am hearing more of their story. I begin to feel unnerved when Junpei comments that they spotted nobody else on their way home, as if the entire city after they got off the train is deserted.

With no one responding my phone call, I have a feeling that Junpei is right. With only our best knowledge on how to handle burns, we just try to treat Kotone's injuries. I hate to admit that it makes her suffering worse as we are no experts on this. I am so sorry...

At night, my mind wonders about the strange day. The sudden blazing hot weather, Kotone suddenly catching fire, the city being inexplicably empty... Does this have anything to do with our hidden hour activities? Is this another strangeness like the 25th hour? Is this an ominous sign of something worse?

I end up falling asleep.

...

* * *

Today is **November 6, 2009**.

So many things have happened the last few months. More of the Shadow fighting, Shinji being shot, that damned Chairman... I am still mad at myself for not even being able to alter the unfortunate events. Why, of all things, am I not allowed to avert Shinji's fate this time? Why can't my ability can be used to alter reality overall, not just other people's injuries or deaths, thus giving me a chance to change the circumstances regarding the revelation? I have tried. I really do. But life still goes on as if I have not died and live through the schedule as normal. What are the true limits of my ability exactly?

I have been questioning myself a lot more these days. I know I should keep moving forward. How many times do I have to re-state myself? But today is definitely strange, though. Possibly more so.

The weather is unusually hot today.

In the afternoon, I have arrived at the dorm much earlier than usual. I am drenched in sweat. And it is not from my boxing club or jogging. I go straight to my room on the second floor. I begin to lower the air conditioner's temperature as low as it can allow. I can not handle the heat. I immediately lie down on my bed, sleeping as I let the chill from the air conditioner cool me down.

...

I do not know how much time has passed, but I feel the room is really cold already. Too cold.

I quickly get up. My eyes widen in horror. Almost every furniture and equipment I have is covered in ice. Did I get too far with the temperature change? Brrr... Now I am complaining about the cold, when I was getting dizzy from the heat hours ago. I am not the type that can handle the cold.

I try using the remote to raise the temperature back. The remote no longer functions. It is pretty much an icy brick. Crap.

I decide to get out of my room. The door is completely sealed by ice.

I am trapped.

...I begin to lose consciousness.

...

* * *

Today is **November 6, 2009**.

So many things have happened the last few months. More of the deaths, me being killed, that damned murderer... I am still mad at myself for not even being able to alter the unfortunate events. Why, of all things, am I not allowed to erase myself from existence? Why can't my ability can be used to destroy myself? I have tried. I really do. But life still goes on as if I still exist and live through the schedule as normal. What are the true limits of my ability exactly?

I have been questioning myself a lot more these days. I know I should face death head-on. How many times do I have to re-state myself? But today is definitely strange, though. Possibly more so.

The weather is unusually hot today.

In the afternoon, at the dorm... I am not even sure what I am thinking about. I keep recalling things that I have never done. Nightmares that I never have. Things that never exist. My mind keeps nagging me. It is like having every single one of my limbs being tugged if not outright torn apart. I keep clutching my head as if I can just force them away. But no, that is not how it works. I can't take this anymore!

I dash towards the kitchen and pick up a knife which I hope is sharp enough. I know that I keep my memories every time I die and then wake up. But what else can I do?!

With the knife held by both hands, I try to aim it to my chest, to my heart.

...

* * *

Today is **November 6, 2009**.

So many things have happened the last few months. More of the Shadow fighting, Shinji being shot, that damned Chairman... I am still mad at myself for not even being able to alter the unfortunate events. Why, of all things, am I not allowed to avert Shinji's fate this time? Why can't my ability can be used to alter reality overall, not just other people's injuries or deaths, thus giving me a chance to change the circumstances regarding the revelation? I have tried. I really do. But life still goes on as if I have not died and live through the schedule as normal. What are the true limits of my ability exactly?

I have been questioning myself a lot more these days. I know I should keep moving forward. How many times do I have to re-state myself? But today is definitely strange, though. Possibly more so.

The weather is unusually hot today.

My head hurts. No idea why. It just does. Pretty sure I have had a good enough meal already. Well, good enough without getting any lectures from Shinji... if he was here. The train ride only makes it worse. I am lucky that I did not end up vomiting at all. But it disorients me enough to make me take a wrong turn, ending up at the path to the shrine instead of the dorm. Before I know it, I am suddenly stopped by two people, one in a green tunic and dark blue cape, and one that seems familiar. I saw that guy before during the vacation. The same redhead swordsman. He begins to speak.

"We have finally found you."

I do not like where this is going.

"No need to be afraid. We mean no harm."

Reassuring, but I can not let my guard down, even when my head is not feeling right.

"I can't believe it took this long for me to properly talk to you in person. Your expression tells me that you've seen me before, yes?"

He is correct on that part, but I need to know the reason why he decides to chat with me out of nowhere.

"Oh. Forgive me for not properly introducing ourselves. I'm Roy, and this is Link. In this world, I pretend to be a celebrity and go with the alias 'The Flying Human' to hide my true purpose here. Don't worry about Link not saying a word. He can simply talk, he just chooses not to."

In this world? Does he even know of the hidden hour which is kinda another world? Also, true purpose?

"I see you're not quite ready to take it all in, but considering the circumstances, I have to explain, sorry."

Perhaps they really know about the hidden hour. Or maybe...

"It concerns this world's condition."

Condition? Like this strange searing hot weather?

"The anomalies are coming out more and more. I believe you know what I'm talking about."

Anomalies? Like the hidden hour? My deaths?

"The hidden hour that bathes everything in green, the sudden change in weather, the twisting reality that occurs nearly every day..."

My eyes widen. He knows. He said those are anomalies, so of course they are never meant to exist. Including my deaths. But I am not overjoyed. Not crying. Not even angry. I am just speechless. The part about twisting reality just gets me. He knows every instance where I shifted reality from dying, accidentally or not. He is more than what he seems to be. What is he? What about his companion?

"Now, to get to the point, let me tell you about a prophecy related to this world. _When Death approaches the entire world, its fate shall be sealed. The impossible becomes possible. Existence shall rot itself into nothingness._ "

The world is ending...? This was the Chairman's wish, wasn't it? He did seemingly fail to trigger it by having his plan to sacrifice us foiled, but is this the exact same thing?

"I regret to tell you, or anyone in general, really, that we're all at the end already. However... if you so wish, you can give this world a second chance to live. Not only averting the calamity, but also removing all traces of the anomalies."

I can stop the end? And in return, I can live life as I was supposed to? This sounds absurd, but with all the strangeness going on, I am in. If my end goal turns out to be protecting the entire world, then so be it.

I tell the two I am considering it.

"Thank you. It seems the world chose you for a reason, after all."

The world chose me? What is this, some cartoon or video game cliché?

"You see, there is another prophecy that relates to this. _The Fool and The Emperor will one day meet. They will laugh together, fight together, and suffer together. Their hearts shall beat the same pace. The Fool shall help The Emperor ascend to the Stars to decide the ultimate fate._ You are part of the prophecy. However, the choice to salvage this world is still up to you. We do not force you. The planet's fate depends on everyone's wish, after all. Now to tell you the truth, Link and I are just the avatars summoned by the Smash Tower to find the chosen and offer the choice. The Smash Tower is basically the heart of this world. Link controls time, while I rule the space. However, once we're summoned, our powers become limited. Exerting our normal amount of power here can risk ruining the very time and space themselves. That's why it took some effort for us to first find the key trophy and then you."

I just listen and try to take in all the information. Turns out they are part of this Smash Tower that keeps the world alive. Considering my constant run-in with Shadows, this does not sound any stranger than that. I wonder what Roy meant by the key trophy, though.

"Link, give him the trophy."

The guy in green hands me some kind of figurine-like item. On its round stand, there is a figurine of a mushroom with a red cap with white spots. It appears to have a pair of beady black eyes. Yeah... seems more like a figurine than a trophy. I can tell, I have loads of them in my room.

"This trophy can help you find the answers and thus guide you to the Smash Tower. However, bear in mind that you are not going through this alone, as said by the prophecy. And we have a feeling that someone or something will try to stop you on your journey. We're sure the trophy will explain why."

I simply nod. This is my role now. Not just to give me another chance of a normal life, but also another chance of protecting anyone. All of my training has culminated in this. This shall be my final exam.

Suddenly, Link and Roy begin to flicker in and out of existence.

"Looks like we're just in time. The Smash Tower needs us again. This world is getting weaker despite time being stuck on this same date. I'm sorry. We have to take care of the Smash Tower. We're not even sure if we'll be summoned outside again. Please find the person named Kotone and make sure she stays with you throughout the whole journey. Remember, try to make use of the trophy's powers. Simply hold onto it, close your eyes, and concentrate. I wish you good luck."

Link and Roy finally vanish. That was a lot to take in. Turns out the day is forever November 6, perpetually looping. No wonder I think I was going crazy. The other person that is part of the prophecy... Kotone... I am sure she will take on anything, but I wonder if she has known this yet...

According to Roy, the trophy I have holds the answers. Simply hold onto it, close my eyes, and concentrate, huh? I wonder what power it has. No time to try it out now. The lack of people around unnerves me, especially the fact that there is still a possibility of a threat that I can not see until it is too late.

The day is getting darker. I need to digest all the info first before I can decide my next course of action. I decide to go back to the dorm.


	7. Walking Disaster

**November 6, 2009 - Evening**

Of course, I arrive late. But it does not make any difference. The lounge is as empty as if I arrived earlier than normal. I am going to assume that everyone has gone back to their rooms and Koromaru has already fallen asleep somewhere in the building.

From what I can summarize from my encounter with Link and Roy, the end of the world (I still assume The Fall?) is getting closer. All this despite the day being stuck on November 6. Then again, this, the hidden hour, the strange weather, and my deaths are linked together. I assume there are more, since the more unstable the world, the more anomalies will pop up. Since the day is stuck looping, I am going to assume that there must be a limit to how many more loops left before the unthinkable happens. Come to think of it, I do not even know how long we have been stuck repeating the same day. It still hurts trying to remember the events occurring every loop, as if they just mix themselves together into twisted memories. Me being made aware of the time loop finally provided me the answers to my nagging feeling. Some loops have different events, but the outcome is the same: the day repeats and everyone tries to follow the supposed schedule of November 6 as normal. Now I am going off-track.

I am supposed to bring this trophy to a place called Smash Tower. Sounds silly, but I will just take anything these days. Oh, and I also have to bring Kotone along because the world apparently chose her too. Should not be too much of a problem. We have already trusted each other, so I am positive that I can convince her. I assume the travel will be above the level of our usual Tartarus climbs. I mean, this is saving the entire world I am talking about, of course I am going to expect a dangerous journey, including the possibility of our travel technology not helping eventually. Then there is the possibility of me dying mid-trip. My ability should help me in theory, but what if I end up back at the dorm upon waking up, considering that is the case every loop? Can I even defy reality further to wake me up at the spot instead? The thoughts alone make me reconsider about throwing myself into danger. Of course, just of course, it will not be easy even with my ability taken into consideration. I have to prepare to the best of our ability.

Upon entering my room, I turn on the lights. And that is when I notice a sheet of paper placed on my desk. I pick it up and read it.

* * *

_To: Akihiko_

_Senpai, Kotone-tan asked me to write this note. It appears that you're going to be late. She wants to talk to you tonight. She'll meet you at the third floor. It's very important, so please go see her ASAP!_

_From: Junpei_

* * *

It seems I have the opportunity this time.

After placing my bag and jacket in my room, I immediately walk out and go straight to the third floor. Upon reaching the landing, sure enough, Kotone is waiting for me at one of the two tables the girls normally use as a place to hang out together or have their own study session. There is no else, though. Just her. Mitsuru is still not here yet, Aigis is too devastated to leave her room, and the other girls might have fallen asleep earlier. Kotone is already in her pajamas, covering most of her body, but I can still see bandages visible on the lower part of the back side of her neck. It seems that she still suffers the same injuries as before. She still winces whenever she tries to move, but she is determined to keep her composure. She notices the trophy I am carrying.

"Thank you for taking your time."

I sit on the chair across from her and place the trophy on the table. She examines the mushroom-like figurine.

"It seems we're destined to be on the same road, huh?"

She already knows. This is even easier.

"I have been dreaming a lot. But this is certainly, er, unlike what I usually dream of. Link and Roy... I thought they can only be seen in dreams. Now here you are, bringing proof that they've met you somewhere, outside dreams. I've been this uneasy these last few days, or more like time loops, and now I have the answer."

She has also become aware of the loop. I do not want to imagine her further thoughts on the subject. I tell her that I feel the same about the loops. She smiles a little before continuing the talk.

"Now that we know what's happening, we have to prepare. I don't know if our deadline's up yet, so we have to go as soon as possible. I think I know what is needed already. What about you?"

I tell her that we can just do this as always. We will prepare our item supply and equipment as usual, make sure our Evokers are ready for such a long trip, and get everyone's help. When I mention the last part, she quickly shakes her head. I ask her why.

"I'm sorry. I guess Link and Roy didn't tell you this. We have to go on our own. Can't let anyone else, including our friends, know of our journey. Sure, the path will open during the Dark Hour to make our trip easier, but we can't leave ourselves open to our enemy. Because of this, we also have to limit on what we can bring with us. Any special device that can help track our position can not be taken, for example. We also can not let ourselves slowed down by our items, so just stick with the necessities."

I am surprised that there are restrictions. Great. I know they had a short time during my encounter, but I still can not believe they left out that little detail. Maybe this is another reason why I must find Kotone. I simply nod in disappointment. Then again, I do not know what our enemy is like in this case.

"Aside from the trophy, which is obvious, just medicines and other healing kits will be enough for us while also lessening the weight. Some snacks too. Once we're ready, we have to find a perfect timing to leave without anyone noticing us at all. Something like this, just without the note. Preferably during Dark Hour itself. I don't know how far the place is, but hopefully we can arrive before the day loops over."

I nod again, this time in understanding. I tell her that we can start preparing the needed items and equipment in the next time loop. She agrees. I also ask her how we plan our route. I trust her on strategy. She has helped us a lot in our battles.

"Let's see... first of all, we will inevitably have to leave the city. The path starts from the city's mine a good distance away. It is a complex cave system, but it does have an exit. Once we can make it, we will have to journey across a volcano. Naturally, this is the hardest part. We are never trained on how to survive volcanic areas, but this route is mandatory, so we just have to try. After this, we'll go further north. We should be arriving at a forest where the tower is if we don't take any unnecessary turns. Unfortunately, as for leaving the city, I do not have the full map to help us with the route, but I'll try to snatch one from somewhere in the next loop. Traveling outside the city, not counting the volcano trek, is much easier than this. And before you ask, yes, this is the promised path that will open up during the Dark Hour. The actual location of the tower is much further away than the route we're given, Link and Roy told me."

Yet another detail left out by those two. At least it's reassuring that our trip is made easier. I do not want to imagine having to cross the sea during the hidden hour.

"The only reason this is even possible is because of the tower. We're given a choice. We chose to stop the calamity. So, we'll be guided throughout the journey. It is only up to us if we want to stay in the path of that choice."

I can now see why Link and Roy were being called back earlier. But that was still quite a bad timing. I am relieved that I am not alone in searching the answers.

"...I guess that's all. We're told a lot of things, hehe. I'm also sad that I have to leave the others behind, but I still have you."

I finally show my genuine smile for the first time in a long while. I have been living through all this pain and suffering, but now that Kotone is here and I finally know my answers to my curse, I am ready to give it my all.

"Even if there's something else missing in our plan, we can still discuss it tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. We can't let this loop distract us. We'll restore this world to how it's supposed to be!"

All that energy, and I forget that she is supposed to be suffering from the rather not good treatment to her injuries.

"Good night, Senpai! I'll see you tomorrow!"

I say good night to her as well. I am at peace now. I watch her walk back to her room, the furthest one on the right side of the corridor. She staggers a bit, but she is still determined in trying to not show her pain. After her door closes, I get up from the chair, take the trophy with me, and go back to the second floor, back to my room. My sleep shall be pleasant.

...

Or so I thought.

* * *

**Dark Hour**

I keep tossing and turning in my sleep. I thought I am feeling calm already. Is this the effect of the time loop? The hidden hour is supposed to not exist, so does the whole loop thing occur during this hour or something?

I quickly get back to my sitting position, covered in sweat. I look at my desk and I finally realize something.

The trophy.

It is glowing ominously in a brighter green glow. Maybe it has something to tell me. I try to follow what Roy said: hold onto it, close my eyes, and concentrate.

A brief vision of Naganaki Shrine suddenly flashes in my mind. ...I have to go there. But first, I need to get Kotone. I am not sure what will happen if I leave on my own while the others are not concerned about going to Tartarus. I take my Evoker, then try to reach the third floor without waking anyone else up, including Koromaru. And especially Fuuka Yamagishi. I just know she can detect anyone else easily when awake. I am sure that Aigis is still not in the mood to monitor Kotone, I hope. Electronics not considered "special" (Mitsuru's words, not mine) are out, so this is the only way I can reach her.

As I stand before the door to her room, I begin to feel nervous. I keep wondering if somebody will eventually wake up no matter what I do. I begin to take a deep breath and give her door a gentle knock.

No answer. I take the risk and knock harder.

Still no answer.

I try the door handle. The door is locked. Same result.

Why must she be in deep sleep at this moment...?

Worrying that I will not be able to take a second chance, I decide to leave the dorm. Looks like I am on my own anyway. I run on my usual route to the shrine. The streets are just as empty as before. Once the shrine comes into view, I begin to feel uneasy. I do not know why at first, but walking up the steps allows me to have the answer presented directly to myself.

I see Kotone... and someone else. He looks like a boy our age. He has white hair, black eyes (one of them partially covered by his bangs), and really pale skin. He wears a black jacket, a blue shirt underneath said jacket, white trousers, and a pair of light blue slippers. The shirt bears a logo of something that I believe Junpei or some other video game enthusiast would be familiar with. I just see that it looks like a smiling rabbit wearing a mask. He may seem simply eccentric by his strange getup alone, but he is much more than that. Sprouting from his back is a pair of feathery wings the same color as his hair.

Kotone's neck is wrapped by one of the boy's arms. His other hand is holding a revolver. Kotone does not appear to be struggling. Hell, she might not be conscious.

I am seething in anger. Especially at his weapon of choice. I am reminded of Shinji again.

"I've been waiting for you."

As this is the hidden hour and I am a good distance away from the dorm, I am free to shout. I furiously ask him who he is and what is going on.

"You don't need to be that rude, you know? But since you asked, I'll answer. You can call me Yuki. As for what's going on, let me tell you everything you need to know. I won't harm this girl as long as you don't take a step forward or try to fight me."

I have no choice. I lower my fists and just stand there. I need to know. Maybe there is some crucial info I can get.

"I come from another dimension. It's a world like this, but different. It appears that we're nearing our doom soon, correct? Once I found out about this world, I decide to give it a visit. It's surprisingly easy. Must be because of how unstable it is, yes? It's tempting to invite the others from my side, but I don't think this place is worth living."

I retort by saying that Kotone and I are about to prove that wrong. He just shakes his head.

"Tch, tch... You have no idea, don't you? My world is also in danger, and after searching around, I declare that this world is the reason why."

What is this, some alien invasion plot?!

"But there's something else. We can't just outright delete this world. The researchers discovered that there's a certain someone who is supposed to be brought over. With my newfound ability to jump into this world, I finally find out who they're talking about."

He points his revolver to Kotone's head. No... that can not be... Please don't...

"Her name's Kotone Shiomi, correct?"

I grit my teeth. I almost try to lunge at him, but I know that if I am being reckless again, I will fail to protect someone yet again.

"I feel bad for her... Ending up here, living through the atrocity. She is supposed to be my true love, my eternal companion, but she ends up here. I am here to take her. She only deserves to live with me. I'm sad to notice that there are other people, including you, that have taken interest in her too."

Amidst my building rage, I am being reminded of the other people involved with her. Some of her schoolmates? Maybe. Ken Amada? He sees her as a big sister figure. Shinji...

No, I can not let anyone else get caught in this boy's maze. I can not let them die over a reason this petty.

"But that's not enough... My world can't continue on as long as this exists. I can salvage everyone in this world so that they can live in the same peaceful world as I am, but no matter what I do, I simply can't. I've tried, so many times, even defying time itself, to get my job done. Only now do I know why."

The boy points his revolver at me.

"I'm sorry, Sanada. I regret to tell you that you are the problem."

My eyes widen. I can not believe this. He just accused me of causing the end of the world. I know that it is not the case. We are given a mission based on our choice. And that choice being to save the world.

But then it made me think.

The boy also has a similar mission: salvaging the entire planet by stopping the calamity. But the way he worded it implies that he is going to take everyone else except me after taking Kotone and thus fulfilling his role. He can save the world too, just in a different way. I do not even know if his dimension is as peaceful as he said. Our world has lived through many disasters, wars, and other kinds of chaos of its own, but we can still live through it. Does his place never have any of that aside from the incoming calamity? Is his method a better way than our long journey? Does my disappearance justify the world peace?

I become anxious. I can see the boy's finger about to activate the trigger. I am scared. I want to live, but my thoughts begin to spin into conflict. I know I can just trust Link and Roy, but what if it is not the case?

"It all comes back to you. Every time you die and wake up, I feel a disturbance in my home dimension. You defy reality in such a way that not even the more 'natural' anomalies can beat that. No wonder the world is so unstable now. You're born and destined to lead the world to ruin. I'm so sorry you have to live like that. I'm so sorry you have no chances of living normally. But your presence makes my job easier. Imagine a paper and a pencil. Now the paper has holes from the pencil's many stabs."

I unknowingly allowed beings outside this world to enter, just because of my ability or curse?! I keep wishing for Caesar (who Polydeuces ended up as now) to give me some closure and help me determine the truth. But no matter how tense I am now... he will not come out. I can not grab my Evoker. Come on, me... What is going on? Why am I so scared?! Come to think of it, can I even wake up from this after I'm shot?

"I'm so sorry that your existence is unneeded. One shot, and you will be gone. My special revolver will make sure that you'll stay dead, thus restoring world balance. No more waking up, just like you wanted, right?"

...

"Goodbye, Sanada."


	8. Spilling Blood

I have closed my eyes for a while.

...

I am surprised that not a single bullet has pierced any part of my body. Come to think of it, there is no sound of weapon fire at all. With that realization, I slowly open my eyes.

That boy, Yuki, has not made a single move. But he seems to express some sort of regret. His eyes appear to be closed contently, but there is a hint of sorrow on them. His smile is slight, but seems kind of pained. He then shakes his head.

"No. That can't do for now."

He lowers his revolver and unwraps his arm around Kotone, unceremoniously dropping her. She remains unconscious.

"I feel bad if I just outright kill you without you at least finding your answer to all this happening. You need some closure to your life, right? Also, I don't think Kotone would like that. It's embarrassing to have your life ending while you're still walking in circles."

Why is he doing this? He already tried sounding so sympathetic earlier. I am still angry he tries to bring up Kotone right in front of me, though.

"I'm giving you one last chance. Please justify your reason for keeping this world exist. I actually want a good answer this time. I honestly would give you more, but according to the researchers, the very next time loop will be the last. Once that time called Dark Hour arrives, it will stay that way perpetually, then the world will start veering towards its absolute destruction. It's at that moment I'll begin hunting you down, and I'll show no mercy. Please don't waste your time."

After telling me that, the boy vanishes. And with that, the hidden hour ends, back to a normal night. I am still speechless. I have until the next midnight before I die for real. How will I answer without bias and sounding ridiculous? My entire existence is on the line. People will forget me at all if I do not succeed. Poor Miki would be very lonely and confused. I am pretty sure Shinji would feel the same as well. I do not even want to imagine how it feels to be a complete nothing, if it is even possible to "feel" or "think" anymore. I can not believe this, contemplating about my own existence.

...

I approach Kotone to pick her up. As if by convenience, she opens her eyes.

"Akihiko..."

Yes, I hear you.

"I'm sorry."

I tell her that it was not her fault. Considering that boy's ability, it might be that easy for him to lower her guard and kidnap her without anyone noticing and any noticeable damage. I am not sure if I should admit about his accusation yet.

"No, it's not that. I-I don't want you to feel hurt."

I actually do already. I just find myself difficult to express it. As if the very concept of nonexistence actually drove my emotions away. Or something. But the way she said it means that her kidnapping has nothing to do with her apology. I ask her what she meant.

"The truth is harder to swallow, that's all..."

Is she talking about her relationship with Yuki, or is it related to how I am not supposed to exist? Either way, I am still torn, and I am not surprised that she feels the same. Yuki might have told her everything before he knocked her out.

"...You're crying."

I finally realize that I have tears pouring down my face. I must be this stressed to even not notice this. Without commenting on it, I ask her to get on my back. We are going home for now.

"...Alright. I don't think my legs can really support me in this state anyway."

With that, I carry Kotone on my back and walk back to the dorm. We are fortunate that no one notices us.

* * *

**November 6, 2009 - Early Morning**

I have to excuse myself from school this time. I have placed a note on my door to tell everyone that I am suddenly ill and can not leave the bed. I know, it is just a lie to cover up the pressure I am suffering from.

...

It is still a long way until midnight.

I am still sobbing badly on my bed, my face covered up with my pillow. I am still conflicted over whether we can trust Link and Roy, or Yuki. I know we have the physical proof that Kotone and I are the chosen, but what if Yuki is right and I am still part of the anomalies, meaning that I might risk my existence by going to the Smash Tower? What about the others that remain alive from my reality-defying deaths? Are they affected too?

I remove the pillow from my face, soaked in tears. I then get up and look over my desk. The mushroom trophy is still there. I realize I forgot to bring it with me last night. I slap myself for my stupidity. I could have showed that boy the trophy. But... that might not be enough.

I wonder if I can see something else from this trophy.

Reaching my desk, I grab the mushroom trophy. As I sit as comfortably as possible, I begin to close my eyes and concentrate while holding it with both hands. A sequence of events appears in my mind.

* * *

**1999**

I see a little girl in what appears to be a living room. The auburn hair... those red eyes... could it be Kotone as a kid?

She is seen watching TV. Her eyes widened and her mouth agape as she watched a certain news report. Yes, she happened to watch the same news depicting the campsite incident involving the camp counselor and his three child victims.

The vision changes, now showing her walking by a playground. The playground that Shinji, Miki, and I used to play at before my very first death. I can not believe I missed that. Then again, we were kids and did not know anything better, and I stick mostly with Shinji and Miki back then. But if that was the case, that means...

Yes, the malfunctioned airplane also killed her. I can easily dismiss this as coincidence as there were other people there too.

That is, until the vision changes again and it shows her abruptly waking up from her bed.

She has the same curse as me.

No wonder she and Mitsuru suddenly came back after their mysterious deaths back in September despite me not killing myself to get them back.

I can not believe she has been hiding this for years. I am not any better, though. The only other person I have talked to about this is Shinji, but I do not think he is even aware of Kotone's curse. Perhaps, this is why we suffer like this. It is a simple reason at first glance. We are part of the prophecy, and until our mission is a success or failure, we are not allowed to die. But the side effect of this is us defying reality every time that happens, which Roy told me is also one of the anomalies, the signs of the end. I wonder if there is something else beyond our curse. With the context of everything that is happening now, what is the true purpose of my life? And what is hers?

The vision changes again. The incident ten years ago. The bridge caught fire. Wrecked cars everywhere. The hidden hour happened for the first time.

I see her tiny figure, covered in bruises and cuts. She tried to call out for her parents, stuck in their car. I can not see them clearly. They just appear to be covered in blood from their injuries. I can, however, hear one thing from who appears to be her mother.

"Shiomi... live..."

Shortly after, the car was fully engulfed in flames. Kotone cried, alone. Like myself, she was not aware of her curse, treating her first death as a nightmare she woke up from. Because of this, she was also unable to save her beloved. At least she remembered her parents... I do not and never will...

* * *

**2000**

This time, the vision shows Kotone with an injured leg walking with her crutches. Suddenly, the dam broke, sending a giant watery wall of doom towards her. I thought this would be her next death until a certain someone jumped in and rescued her with superhuman speed. Well, I am not wrong after all. The one rescued her was none other than Roy, still the same age and appearance despite the event taking place years ago before I even got to see him for the first time. I smile a bit as I hear Kotone laughing happily from being rescued by someone considered a hero in her eyes. After thanking him, Roy smiled back and left the area.

But shortly after, there was a swift cutting motion. Before I know it, Kotone's head had separated from her body. Her head landed on the ground, leaking blood, while her body collapsed. Someone or something just decided to kill her that time. I can not see what caused it, but I hope I can find my answer as I see more of this.

The next vision is a montage of her deaths. Face covered in ceramic shards while hot tea burned in her head, her head being torn off by some sort of mechanism, a thrown mixer ended up in her eyes and destroyed the inside of her head...

Then comes the next vision. It shows her ice skating blissfully. But I know for sure that she was wearing her facade like she is now. It really contrasts myself when it comes to how we handle our deaths. It took me years to truly accept it. She possibly accepted it since she was little. Looking at her just ice skating without any incident on her part makes me think. She tries to live her life to the fullest despite the curse, and she was still a little kid at that point! Meanwhile, I spent my childhood living in fear, even scared of my own friends. I even snapped in the later years and tried to kill myself, and not as in to render somebody else's death permanent just yet. It can not be helped, I think. Perhaps the contrast really justifies us being chosen, and the deaths are what marked us as such. Who knows.

The next part of the vision reminds me of a particular event from my past. Kotone witnessed another skater whose leg got caught by a rope trap. Said trap proceeded to pull him towards a fishing hole. The poor guy was unable to struggle against it, and he ended up falling into the icy water, sinking and never resurfacing back up, as if whatever was at the end of the rope was really heavy. She just witnessed it the same way I witnessed a bloody incident involving a motorboat at the beach way back then. Her next course of action was similar too: getting out of the danger zone.

* * *

**2001**

More death montage. After one that shows her eyes impaled by icicles, the vision changes to show something I am personally familiar with.

My small camp not far from my old home.

It turns out, when I was being mutilated by a crazed Shinji (why...), Kotone happened to be there when she was walking by the nearby forest. Naturally, she was absolutely terrified at the sight. Hearing her scream, Shinji turned back towards her and proceeded to chase after her. Unfortunately, she tripped when she tried to run back. Shinji grabbed her and began choking her. With the intestines he pulled out of my younger self's body. This is sickening. It is not enough that I am watching my good friend going crazy again and finally getting a good view of what he did to me, but I also end up watching him kill an innocent girl who just happened to be there using my own body parts. I wish I can reach out and help her, stop Shinji, or both. But I can not. I can only let the vision play out until the end.

The next vision reveals that she also went to the same elementary school as me, as she was also present in the doomed bus. I can not believe I was that ignorant. If only I actually paid attention to anyone other than just Shinji, I could try talking out my problems earlier with her.

When the vision keeps playing after I got myself knocked out from hitting my head after a bump, I can finally get the idea of what is actually happening to the bus. It ended up careening off a cliff into the sea. Or so I think. As if by a stroke of luck, it fell right on one of the tiny islands surrounding the cliffs. Most of the students there were dead, including me. Kotone, of course, was one of the survivors. Actually, I take back my words. Perhaps the dead ones were lucky this time. The island had nothing but a single palm tree. And speaking of the sea, it is known for being infested with sharks, so no one can just swim to get out. The survivors had to live with whatever they could safely catch by the shore. Kotone also attempted to fish, but she then got stung by a deadly jellyfish...

Perhaps it was better for her to be dead at that moment so that she would not have to live through the hellish survivor life.

* * *

**2002**

The next vision is yet another moment where Kotone showed up at a place I was present yet I missed her anyway. Here, this vision takes place during the burger joint incident. Again, I was already dead by the time she was about to show up at the building. The killer, the murderous plumber, had rigged the kitchen stove to explode. When that happened, Kotone got crushed by the building's door and debris. At this point, I wonder if the killer was the same guy who murdered Kotone earlier after she was rescued by Roy.

No... I believe Roy would detect the danger if he was still not that far from her, considering his true role, even with his weakened power taken into account. I would go with the obvious conclusion, but I need to see more of these morbid visions.

Late autumn, her face suddenly melted out of nowhere. There was nothing that can possibly cause it. She was just taking care of her and her friend's lemonade stand. It reminds me of the unexplained death back in September, current year. I mean, it is not like the other deaths were caused by something entirely natural to begin with. Something just had to go wrong, but this sudden one makes me question further. Is he really something that can not be underestimated?

Next vision, and she looks fine again. It appears that she is doing that "trick or treat" thing. No idea how she recovered from that horrific face injury which I assume was weeks ago, unless she did the obvious. Anyway, she was dressed up as a witch, walking around the neighborhood with her friends. I wish I was able to meet her during that time frame, but what am I thinking... Other than that, she actually looked like she was having fun, again not minding her curse.

Then one vision makes me shudder. Kotone was one of the audience watching my class's holiday play. In that old school theater. Which then caught fire. I finally recognize the loudest scream from the crowd, which turns out to be her. And since at one point I compared her to Miki...

No. I can not take this anymore. Please. Don't.

* * *

**2003**

The visions have yet to end.

This time, Kotone fell off a cliff, but was thankfully saved by, of course, Roy. I can now see why she had been dreaming of the two avatars lately. Once again, after she was placed on safe ground and Roy ran off to take care of another problem, she ended up dead. This time, an invisible force caused her eyeballs to pop out from their sockets and her head to be skinned. It was at this moment that the other Smash Tower avatar, Link, showed up and attempted to save her by rewinding time, back to before she got into this trouble in the first place. It was a short while, yet Link ended up exhausted, flickering in and out of existence. I guess that is what Roy meant about their powers being very limited here. Shortly after, Roy, seemingly unaffected by the rewound time, ran back to Link and reprimanded him for trying to risk the world's stability further. Because of this, they ended up being called back to the Smash Tower to recover their strength. However, now that there was no one else to watch over Kotone... and she ended up falling off the same cliff...

This next sequence of events shows her at moments where I was also present. Again, back when I was ignorant of almost everybody else.

I was not aware that Kotone was one of the invited birthday-goers that witnessed my messed up death in the hands of the stage magician.

I was not aware that Kotone was also present at the beach where the motorboat incident happened.

I was not aware that Kotone was present at the same water park I was going to and ended up (stupidly) dying at.

I was not aware that Kotone was one of the costumed kids in my group that got run over by a truck during one "trick or treat" activity.

To close the visions from this year, the last event depicts her burning to death from someone's fatal light experiment that affected the entire neighborhood. Shinji, who happened to be there, also got caught in the lights, completely vaporized.

* * *

**2004**

There are not many visions from this particular year. One depicts her buried deep in snow from an avalanche at a ski resort. The other...

This one reminds me of another part of my past. Here, Kotone was apparently promised to be visited by a close friend of hers, but as night went on, she got sadder and sadder. She even resorted to eating a lot of ice cream to spend her time. ...I wish I was there to comfort her. She does not deserve to be alone.

Then the door bell rang. She was happy again. When she opened the door, however...

She was greeted by a rotting corpse tossed by someone who quickly drove away. Being scared of this is supposed to be a natural reaction, but Kotone... just looked at it in confusion. Not even minding the smell, which I refuse to even imagine. She was so used to her deaths and witnessing other people being killed that this no longer fazed her. She had her moments of fear sometimes, but still. To contrast, when I got that flattened corpse delivered to my place, I was obviously repulsed. I was supposed to fully accept my curse that time, but my many deaths in the short time frame back then made me doubt myself anyway. ...I will never understand.

* * *

**2006**

Like myself, she managed to live a full year without deaths for once... only to be followed with more. Also over the course of autumn through early winter.

She died in the same roller coaster ride as I was. Apparently, the carts got separated and I was not aware of it because I was at the front. Her head got melted by a sudden magma burst from the ground. She was also a victim of a hit and run. In fact, it was the exact same car that killed me.

Despite this, she still tried to live normally. She hung out with her friends at various places and she even took a part-time job at a café. She kept the smile as she interacted with other people. That is how she normally is. I am jealous of her social ability.

Then more death montages are shown. She got skinned alive before being brutally bitten by a feral dog. She got stabbed in the chest while doing some clean-up at the dam area.

A weird vision is shown. Kotone was summoned from a lamp like genie, about to grant a wish to another genie. No idea what this is all about. This was apparently one of her dreams.

Next is another morbid vision. While on vacation, the ship she was on got stranded at an icy region, the ship itself burning. When she managed to recover some food from the ship, the burning mast fell right onto her, crushing her. I have had enough nightmares about the fire. I do not need to see her suffering like this. But I am forced to.

After that, another strange vision is shown. It shows her living with (ugh) Kirby in poverty. Like the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk", Kirby ended up getting beans from selling their only cattle. He ate almost all the beans like the glutton he is, leaving Kotone with only one. Needless to say, I guess I was right in comparing that to said story. That night, a massive beanstalk burst out of Kirby and took their house to the skies. When Kotone woke up, she got to see a massive castle. So massive, she was an ant by comparison.

Wait, hold on...

This vision is actually another dream. The moment the gigantic-sized turtle (who I know now is Bowser) showed up, I finally recognize what this is. The dream where I, along with other people, including Shinji, got stuck in glass jars. Kotone and I happened to share the same dream. So... the pink thing scuttling towards the mouse hole in my dream... was her. She just so happened to wear a pink dress with a hood, covering up her auburn hair. Again, I have to endure watching Shinji's head getting cracked open. Only this time, I can see Kotone also watching. She almost gasped loudly in horror at the sight. The vision ends at the moment the dream ended.

More deaths followed. She got set on fire, at two different dates. One where she got tied up by criminals, and one where her house burned down. (Please, stop this.)

It is strange to say it, but it is interesting that particular time frame had the deaths interspersed with either her normal life or the times when she somehow survived. Or purely strange events like the dreams. Here, after those two horrific deaths, I get to see her taking yet another part-time job, this time as an assistant to a surgeon. I am not surprised she could manage. She is quite outstanding and always tries to have something to do. Then again, I think she spent much of her life taking care of herself since the incident ten years ago. She needed the money. Back on topic, the surgeon got a patient that required heart transplant. But the hospital somehow ran out of hearts to use. I can not believe they were this unprepared. The surgeon decided to go out to find one, tasking Kotone to monitor the patient. Suddenly, I am reminded of something. The surgeon and the heart... It was the time when I was playing soccer. He ran by, chasing after a heart that slipped out from his hands. Said heart got squished by the ball. I hate myself for remembering that too.

More death-related visions yet again. Kotone was present at the circus I was taking a part-time job at (and also died at). She was one of the audience who got to witness everything going out of control. My messed up stunt, other workers getting into accidents, and the circus's gimmick animals, the man-eating ducks, ended up let loose and begin terrorizing the place. Again, I was not aware of her presence, but this vision gets to show me what happened to her. She was devoured by the ducks as she tried to escape, leaving only bones... The next vision shows her dying exactly the same way as her first back in 1999. At the same place too. Where I also suffered the same. Similar reminders, I guess.

The next vision interspersing those shows her taking part-time job as a surgeon's assistant again. This time, they had to operate on, of all people, Shinji, who was missing one of his eyes. The surgeon successfully gave him a new eyeball, then they left. It was at that moment that I simply stared in horror, as Kirby suddenly ran in, somehow without anyone else noticing, and tried to take out Shinji's eyeball. The vision just ends there. I know Kirby is normally not like this, but the more I see his crazed side, the more I hate him.

Next is another death montage. Yet another invisible force stripped her to only bones. She got a curse (on top of what she already has) during an expedition and fell into a chasm that magically closed in on her, leaving her as nothing but a bloody mush. She fell from great height inside a bizarrely-constructed house. During a festival, someone's experiment got too far and resulted in killer pop corn pieces killing nearly everyone present, Kotone being one of them, having her head caved in by one. Well... I did say some deaths are just outright ridiculous, and hers are no different.

Next vision. It takes place at the beach during early winter. I remember this moment too. I attempted suicide here. But why here...? Looks like I was wrong thinking that absolutely no one would be there at all. There she was, just walking along the shore. Maybe she just needed a break from her usual busy life (and deaths). Then she encountered my dead body, washed back to the shore. She approached my dead self, trying to wake me up before she realized how cold my body was. She then began to shout for help.

If only I did not do that back then... Yet another missed opportunity in hindsight... On another note, I am surprised that she never brings up anything related to that encounter to me.

Death montage. Choked by shrinking sweater from a mysterious package. Thrown out from the airplane when things spiraled out of control.

Non-death montage. Kotone walking together with a friend. Passed by Link who pretended to be a guy with a popular hairstyle, not sure what to call it. They admired him. A green dino-like creature passed by and tried to impress the girls. They just laughed at him and continued admiring Link.

Death montage. Head destroyed by a submarine-like device. Suffocated by a giant poster someone carelessly glued to the fence she was standing by and thus covered her.

The next one shows Kotone alone at home. She had just finished her errands when the phone in her home rang. She picked it up and... silence. She said hello a few times. No one responded on the other end. I try to think that this might be a prank call, but considering our current circumstances, something sinister might be implied here. After a while without any responses, Kotone just shrugged and ended the call.

For the last vision coming from that year... Kotone was at the amusement park. The same place Shinji and I happened to visit. Yet another instance where I missed her. The fact I was too devastated at the time really did not help. Anyway, Kotone was at the spinning airplane ride. Suddenly, she looked back and then became scared. The killer plumber was back. He was wielding the prop blades from one of the airplanes, meaning that he had attacked the other patrons. Kotone knew she was not able to escape unless the ride was properly stopped, but she tried climbing out anyway. Of course, the danger of falling off was rendered moot by the plumber bashing her head with the blade, the force of it causing her eyeballs to pop out from the sockets... into the spinning blades at the front part of her airplane ride. Saying the end result was grisly is an understatement.

* * *

**2007-2009**

Like myself, her deaths since then had become less and less. Compared to me, though, at least she fared much better than I was.

This one vision takes place less than two years before she moved in to the dorm. Specifically, the time when I decided to buy myself something for the holidays. The same toy shop, too. However, at that point, Jigglypuff and I had left the place for our own safety. Kotone had just entered the place. The lack of customers and the staff room still being left open made her curious. She took a peek. I can finally see what was actually happening back there. The owner, Bowser, had mutilated his employee, and it seemed that he was planning to sell that poor guy's body parts for profit. Of course, she ran out of the building as well.

The last two visions take place this year.

The first one, taking place during our post-final exam vacation, at least explained how I, along with other con-goers, got ignited. Kotone tried out a toy saber whose blade glows. But the blade part suddenly melted from the intense heat generated by the glow (seriously, how in the right mind would one make something this hazardous?!). It melted right on Kotone's head, setting her on fire. In panic, she ended up running to a random direction. She eventually ended up at the celeb panel room, where she finally collapsed, but the fire quickly engulfed the other people there, spreading insanely quickly. However, this vision does not explain about the convention center's sudden crumbling.

The second one... was the September incident. Perhaps I can finally see what was causing her and Mitsuru's deaths. I know it is weird that I will end up watching the event unfolding in the girls' restroom, but if this is what the trophy wants to tell me, then so be it. It begins with Kotone, Junpei, and one other classmate showing a presentation about their group project in front of the class. Junpei showed off a fishbowl that seemed to be part of the project. The fish... did not look like anything I had ever seen before. Maybe it was something obscure? Where did they even get one? I can not shake off the feeling that something just seemed wrong. After their turn was over, the trio returned back to their respective seats. While Junpei was looking the other way, though, I managed to catch a glimpse of the strange fish glaring at the drinking cup at Kotone's desk before disappearing. The vision changes to show Kotone, still in the classroom, listening to a biology lecture. To my surprise, she appeared to be bored. For someone with a good academic track record, this is definitely news to me. She drank from her cup. Shortly after, she decided to excuse herself.

She ran straight for the girls' restroom, passing by the tennis club leader who happened to be there. Kotone quickly went for an empty stall and closed the door. ...I guess the trophy still has some "dignity" not to show anything beyond that, but how do I know how she died there? As if to answer my question, Kotone's bloodcurdling screams began to be heard. Blood seeped out from under the door. When the vision got to show the inside, I am shocked. That strange fish was there, apparently completely tearing apart Kotone from inside out. That thing disappearing seemed to mean that it just teleported into her drinking cup while still being rendered invisible (and becoming water-like?), if not straight into her body at all. It did its job thoroughly. Every organ, every flesh, every bone, every piece of fabric... that thing ate it all without sparing anything, only blood. That also explains Mitsuru's death...

* * *

The visions are over. That was a lot to take in. At the most basic, I have learned that Kotone shares the same curse as me. She just handles it differently compared to myself. She was present at places or moments where I was also there. I was just too ignorant of that until I finally met her at the dorm. But that was in the past. It is not too late just yet. The even stranger deaths... I would rather not question. I will just assume anomalies doing their work. However, not counting the "suddenly crazed" killers, there are mysterious forces that appeared to be clearly after her. The ones that killed her after she was rescued by Roy, the one that stripped her to the bone all of a sudden, the strange fish...

Perhaps I should ask her about it once she got home.

_*knock* *knock*_

On a second thought, maybe I do not need to wait.


	9. Staying Alive

"It's me, Kotone. I know you aren't sick."

My hunch was correct. I already knew that even Kotone can not go through this day with the burden from last night. I get off my bed and walk towards the door, opening it. I am immediately greeted by her worried expression. She is seen holding a tray with two bowls of soup on it. Without me even attempting to interrupt her, she wordlessly walks in and places the tray on my desk. Well... there are not many places to properly put stuff, not counting the floor. Come to think of it, this is my first time I let her in in my room. At least there is no one else around for the time being, including Koromaru (assuming he takes a walk by himself again like in the previous loops), though I double check the outside before closing the door just to be sure.

"I don't know what to have as breakfast today, so I just made whatever..."

I do not blame her for that. What happened last night still rings loudly in our minds.

"Come on. Even if you're not in the mood either, please at least stay healthy."

And with that, I take my bowl, then sit on my bed. As we are focused on the soup, no other words are exchanged. Trying to talk about a difficult topic over meals just makes it even more difficult anyway. The only noises keeping us from the deathly silence are the sounds of us sipping the soup and the birds chirping outside.

When we are done with the meal, we have a few more seconds of silence before I begin the conversation by asking her about our plan for tonight.

"...Tonight, huh? It sounds much tougher now."

I recall what Yuki said. Once the hidden hour sets in tonight, that is it. Perpetual Dark Hour. Either we succeed in reaching the Smash Tower, or fail as the calamity begins. Or I die by Yuki's hands. We can not forget anything important at all.

"You know what, even with the awful truth, let's just do our best as always. I don't know what will actually happen until we go through it. Yeah, it's like I'm biased towards Link and Roy. I've known them for a long time, while I encountered him just last night. Also, you have the trophy from them. He has nothing."

Not gonna lie, Link and Roy hold more promise than Yuki. Not to say that Yuki is all wrong, just highly discouraging considering our circumstances. Living with this curse is an anomaly to begin with. It really makes me think, though. What I have learned about Kotone from the mushroom trophy...

"As for the plan, let's stay with what I suggested last night. We may bring as much food and first-aid kits as we like, but make sure these won't weigh us down throughout the entire journey. We'll also have to ration our snacks, since I don't think we can even try to search for more during the Dark Hour. I don't think we can even dawdle over the lack of food at all. No special devices outside our own Evokers. As for equipment, let's just bring the best we have. Maybe an additional spare is okay just in case. Once again, we practically have to sneak out to start our journey. The city may turn empty by afternoon, but our dorm mates still remain. Our lives will be at a higher risk if we start late night, but it is the best opportunity. Besides, the path will only open during the Dark Hour anyway. I just hope Fuuka won't suddenly scan her surroundings out of curiosity."

Sounds like a solid enough plan, I think. Now, back to my thoughts earlier, I decide to bring them up to Kotone.

"Oh? ...I see. So you finally knew. Roy told me that the trophy does not lie. It is connected to my memories, and that's why you got to see them. ...Glad you know the answer, at least. However, there are still some things that even I have no idea why. You usually die from accidents or plain bad luck, right...? Me... I feel like there are greater forces who are trying to get rid of me. I don't understand."

No answer for the mysterious forces... yet. But as for how I usually die, how about the people that suddenly went insane only to then forgot about it? I've been killed by those guys. Are those any different from her case...?

I decide to ask her about it.

"It's different. They might be affected by the anomaly, but they're still ordinary people. I was murdered out of nowhere, and it took Roy's explanation to make me grasp the idea. Someone... or something... is actively after me. I wonder... if that winged boy has something to do with this. But he claimed he wanted to save me, and he never shows any aggression towards me, so it doesn't add up, unless..."

Trying to figure this out is definitely not easy. Jumping into conclusions is an absolutely bad idea when it comes to dealing with things outside our world. I decide to tell her that we can find this out later and we have to focus on our plan first.

"Yeah, I agree. Let's not waste any more time. First of all, I'll need to find a map of the city to help us plan our route. I... might plan to make some purchases. I need to put up a disguise and lay low, though. A good excuse for sneaking practice, I guess. While I'm away, you can start with preparing our supplies. Remember, only the necessities, and we can't carry too much."

Even amidst our inner confusion, Kotone is quick to resume her commanding role, all with her usual energy. This is the Kotone I know.

* * *

**Afternoon**

I have prepared everything I need. Kotone suggested I rely on either my school bag or my backpack to carry them, so of course there are not many packed in. Honestly, I agree that the two options seem to be the most efficient way to carry things without restricting our movement a lot. We just know we will end up in a fight somewhere on the way. My gloves are still in good shape, my snacks and medicines are ready, my Evoker is still fine, and Caesar's anticipation keeps growing. Not to forget the mushroom trophy. I am all set.

As of now, Kotone has not come back yet. In just a few more hours, school time will be over. I hope she does not get into trouble along the way. I wonder what she has prepared. Gah, I keep worrying about her. I still have my own part. Even though I consider myself ready, I still wonder if what I have is adequate. I just know the journey will be long, but not the estimation of how long it will be. Ugh. Just thinking about it only stresses me out even more. Considering that we also have Yuki to worry about, I do not even think we can get enough rest during the trip. Perhaps it is best for me to just have one last good sleep. I am sure Kotone still have something else to consider before we go.

* * *

**Evening**

I feel refreshed. I check my phone. It is almost 9 p.m. That was quite a sleep. There is also one new unread message. From Kotone.

* * *

_don't ask just go to the roof_

* * *

That is the only message. Considering the time, pretty sure I do not want anyone else to feel suspicious. I look back at my full bag. I am not sure if I should take anything yet just so I do not need to return to my room anymore. But it is still the same regardless. We have to play stealth. I get out of my room and go for the stairs.

At the dorm's rooftop, Kotone is standing there, alone, watching the scenery. It reminds me of our last rooftop conversation (and awkward confession), albeit at the school. She does not seem to carry her own bag up there. What she does carry, however, is not just her evoker, but also her club armband.

"Well, that was quick. Thought you'd be sleeping longer."

Huh. I assume she was sleeping too as soon as she got back.

"I got my stuff ready. How about you?"

I tell her that I am ready. She nods in response.

"Alright then. From now on, consider this the very last club activity, albeit only involving the two of us. There is no telling if we will survive or not, so we have to treat this like our usual important missions."

She now wears the armband over her left arm like we usually do every club activity. I guess I have to wear mine too. And stick with our school uniforms.

"I might have broken the rules of the club, but we have no choice. Eh, I'm ready to be punished if we succeed. Anyway, the plan is... we leave from the back door. I finally have the idea of how to reach the mines the quickest, so all you need to do is keep following me, okay?"

Kotone never lets go of her field leader role. Well, she does treat this as yet another one of our club activities. In a way, she is right. We have risked our lives in many of the missions, yet the worst things we got were our injuries. Actually... Shinji ended up suffering... but this is not the time to be all sad about it. He would slap me across the face if I let this distract me while he was nearby. This one mission... The universe is at stake, and we are here to defy its fate.

"Let's grab our bags and get out of here. We have to be at the mines shortly before midnight, just to be safe. Careful not to alert the others. Oh, and don't forget the trophy."

With that, we go back downstairs and take what we have prepared. When we meet again downstairs by the dining table, I can finally see what Kotone is carrying. Her usual naginata is strapped to her back. Her bag consists of bread, plenty of precious eggs she has saved from our outings, some medicine, a few Patra Gems, and revival beads. Basically our normal mission items (sans the bread), albeit more restricted. I keep my own stuff in my backpack, except for the trophy, which I keep in a separate pouch just to avoid wasting time rummaging through the former in case I need it. Before you ask, yes, I have worn my club armband.

As we approach the back door, ready to open it, we give each other an agreement nod. We are ready for this.

"...You're leaving?"

My heart jumped. Kotone is equally shocked. We look back. Someone has spotted us. No, about half the dorm has noticed.

"I knew something was up when you guys suddenly claimed to be sick at the same time."

Ken was the one who started to speak. I have to admit, it was a rather lame excuse just to cover up something incredibly risky.

"Yeah, what's up with that? I know we just went through yet another hard time, but this is so out of left field even for you two!"

Junpei also noticed.

"I don't know what you're going to do, but I don't think Mitsuru-senpai will tolerate this..."

Yukari just stated the obvious.

"Um... mind if I interrupt?"

Fuuka. Everyone's eyes are on her now. When it comes to suspicion-checking, it has to be her. I wish she can justify her concerns and let us go.

"Something's been bothering me... I thought I was just tired throughout school. It turns out Juno has been giving me constant warnings since I woke up this morning. However... I'm unable to decipher what she meant... This is very unlike Juno, or me for that matter. It's like hearing white noise. Or the sense of impending doom. I guess you noticed me being weird..."

This seems close enough to having Fuuka be self-aware of the current events.

"...That's why we're going," Kotone said, "We have to investigate the reason behind this, however..."

"What? Throwing yourselves into danger? Like what happened to-"

Shut it, Junpei. There is no time to bring that up.

"The point is only the two of us can go. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm serious. If the enemy knows you're tagging along or at least knowing why we're leaving, you'll be in danger. I don't know what will happen when we're done with it, so we can't leave you in harm's way."

We can not explain the specifics or else things will get worse. I can not fault Kotone for giving such explanation.

"Please, Kotone, can you rethink about this a bit? We can't let you two harmed either. We can wait for Mitsuru-"

Yukari's words are cut off by Fuuka. Please, let us go.

"Perhaps they have a point."

"What do you mean? Oh, wait..." Ken said.

"Aside from Mitsuru-senpai, we also have Aigis to worry about. If we all leave, regardless of permission, they'll be at a bigger risk. Since this is an investigation, we can simply trust our field leader. Surely Kotone picked Akihiko-senpai to accompany her for a reason. I just need to know why Juno is acting strangely. Speaking of that... I can't help with guiding you because of it... so please don't go too far..."

Thank you, Fuuka.

"Thanks, Fuuka. Don't worry, everyone. It won't be long, and I can assure you we'll be back safely. You guys stay safe too."

I can not be sure on the first part of Kotone's assurance, but I stay confident in the latter. We have our own supplies as typical for our club's night exploration. We just have to manage everything well.

"Don't worry about it. Whatever it is you'll discover, be very careful," Fuuka told us.

"I don't understand what's actually happening, but please stay safe," Ken said.

"...I guess we have no say on this. Well... take care," Yukari said her farewell.

"We don't want a repeat, man. Sigh... Fine. Just stay alive or somethin'," Junpei said.

With that, Kotone and I say our farewells to those four, then off we go. As we walk on the sidewalks, the sight of the dorm becomes smaller and smaller until it is fully covered up by the other buildings. We can not turn back now. We are now on our way to the promised path. With the map picked up by Kotone earlier, we can plot the shortest route to exit the city. The city's anomaly is in our favor as there are no other people outside to stop us. Except Yuki. But the Dark Hour has not set in yet, so we can get a head-start assuming Yuki appears in the city first before he begins his search.

We run past many empty, unlit buildings. Only the stars and the light reflected off the slightly-waning moon are our light sources. We are so focused on escaping the city first we nearly trip ourselves over several times. The whole process does hurt, but eventually, we decide to give ourselves a brief rest once we managed to leave the city behind. The Dark Hour still has not set in yet. After resting, we decide to just walk to the first location that is part of the promised path, the city's abandoned mine. We need some more time to recover before we can start running again.

* * *

**Late Night**

We walk past a few sceneries, but most of them are of marks of destruction. Large cracks on the ground despite there being no recorded earthquake activity, raging forest fires, absolutely dry terrain...

"I won't be surprised if those were all part of the anomalies... We have to get to the bottom of this. We can't let this world end like this. I still don't trust Yuki. We can prove him that our world doesn't need his intervention to be saved!"

Kotone voices her concerns. I agree. We have to reach the tower to know and spread the truth.

After a long while walking past ravaged lands...

* * *

**Dark Hour**

Everything is now darker and green-tinted. The Dark Hour leading to the supposed world destruction has begun. Fortunately, we have just arrived at the entrance to the mine. It only consists of an open cave. There are no other remnants that mark it as a former mine. The only reason we know this was the city's mine is because the school taught us about it.

"Where are you, Akihiko Sanada!? I can't just let you escape, remember!?"

A male's voice is heard. Yuki's voice. It is from a distance, but we can quite hear it. Of course I should not be even surprised considering his otherworldly abilities. We are not going to have any second thoughts. We go into the cave.

Inside, the cave appears to be lit by its many crystals, which glow eeriely green. There is blood where puddles of water were supposed to be. The cave has many turns, branches, and paths that can lead back to the previous area. The only way we can assure ourselves that we are progressing further is whenever we end up going lower in the cave. Aside from that, the entire trip is not all about picking a path and hoping it is the right one. Shadows, as in the creatures we usually fight in Tartarus or anywhere in the city during full moon, appear here. But they are unlike the ones we have seen before. One is shaped like a bat, another is a spike-covered quadruped that has a very vague monstrous look. Kotone, who moves in front, wastes no time calling upon her Persona, Orpheus, to burn those Shadows. Then more of those things come out of hiding. Of course, I help out too. Caesar will not leave any Shadow alive. One of the bat Shadows gets hit by Orpheus's fire attack but it refuses to go down, so I end up being the one finishing it off with Caesar's lightning. Another thing we noticed is the fact that we can still scavenge things here. Kotone manages to pick up a seed and even one of the familiar items we usually stock up for our club's explorations, the Chewing Soul. With that in mind, I am even more confident in our survival, especially with the fact that the Shadow encounters take a toll on our stamina. Kotone is the most active, helped with her ability of having multiple Personas, so she usually ends up being the one eating through our food supply.

We go lower in the cave. At least, that is what we feel. More Shadows appear. We defeat them with our Personas. One bat Shadow almost leaves Kotone charmed, but thankfully that thing is quickly finished off. Just when we thought that the Shadows and Yuki ambushing us are our only problems here, Kotone ends up stepping on a crack that unleashes some kind of gas that makes her fall asleep. Fortunately, I am at a far enough distance to not smell the gas. More of the bat Shadows appear, but she is helpless. By the time I have taken care of them, Kotone finally wakes up. She has no idea what happened, so I explain to her while also warning her to not be so reckless even while we are in a rush. That should be enough, I hope.

Nope. When we are at another part of the cave, Kotone steps forward and ends up getting rained on by what appear to be caltrops. She quickly summons a Persona to heal her fully. I now fear that there might be even traps that can just outright kill us. I call Kotone out on her recklessness again, but she does not say anything.

As we progress further, the impact from the constant encounters begins to take effect. Kotone ends up so tired, she is unable to make her Personas cast any spells. I still have some strength left, so I let Caesar zap any incoming Shadows. Kotone manages to recover her strength with one of the precious eggs, but this does serve as a harsh reminder that despite the fact that we are able to scavenge, our supply is still limited and not everything just shows up conveniently for us to pick up. Not to mention, the Shadows are getting stronger the further we are in the cave. We even encounter one that looks like a bigger variant of the spiky monster thing.

We eventually encounter Shadows that resemble oversized fireflies. These bloaty, seemingly four-limbed things flutter around and can unleash some sort of scent that makes us lose our stamina. Thankfully, they are easily dispatched with Orpheus's fire spells. Later, just when I thought it will not happen again, Kotone takes a step, and a nearby rock blows up, injuring her. A later trap even blows her away far from me, causing me to go catch up before she gets into another danger. At this point, she finally apologizes and tries to be more wary.

Remember when I said that a Shadow almost charmed Kotone? Unfortunately, this finally happens during this trip. We are being surrounded by small dragon-like Shadows and the bigger bat Shadows. One of those bats casts a spell on Kotone, and she ends up charmed. I am not letting the enemies overpower me from this. I manage to dispatch the dragon Shadows quickly because they do not take lightning spells well. All the while, the bats just drain Kotone's health. I can not do this alone, but I have to. I push Kotone out of the way (I am sorry) and proceed to punch the large bats while at the same time letting Caesar zap the dragons. Once I am sure that there is nothing else attacking us, I approach Kotone, who is badly injured. She has just snapped out of it when I am bandaging her injuries. At a distance, the glow from the crystals lights up something. An exit. Finally. I help Kotone walk out of the cave into... whatever the place is.

Outside, I let Kotone rest as I survey the surroundings. This allows Kotone to take her time healing herself using her Persona. As for my observation, the area seems just as barren as the entrance to the mine does. At a distance, there is a volcano. A very active one, with lava flows and everything. Kotone was right, this is going to be the hardest part. Can we even survive being there? This looks more like a trial to see if we are really that determined to stop the end of the world.

"I can sense you being somewhere around here..."

Crap. Yuki's voice again.

"I'll have you now!"

Thankfully, Kotone has fully recovered, so we make a mad dash straight for the volcano, the next part of the promised path. I do not know how we are going to adapt, but we have to, for everyone's sake.


	10. Dead or Alive

Kotone and I have arrived at the volcano. This is our next destination. Unsurprisingly, just being there makes us start sweating bullets, made worse by our school uniforms. But, we can not let that stop us. If this is considered a test... damn sure it is. Not to mention, Yuki is still tailing us. We do not know where he is, but the way his voice echoes from seemingly nowhere means he can be anywhere. Soon, we come across a cave. We are not sure where else to go, so we might as well assume this will take us further in our journey.

"I just saw you running for the volcano. You think I can't just leave you be?"

Goddamned Yuki.

"However... I have to admire your bold yet foolish choice. No human being can survive there for long. I'm gonna see whether nature will take care of you or not. Once you know your limits, I'll surely come for you."

No point in hiding then. Well, Yuki, if this is what you want, then we will prove you wrong. I ask Kotone if she is ready. She nods in the affirmative. We enter the volcanic cavern.

In such a smaller space, the heat is even more intense. Even if our abilities are enhanced by our Personas, the experience here still feels brutal. Hell, I seriously expect us to burst into flames at any moment. The heat and the gas also take a toll on our stamina. Trying to survive an environment this harsh is not good for our energy. As if that is not enough, we can still encounter Shadows here. We decide to try to avoid as much as possible just for the sake of our energy. Like in the mines, the paths here are like a maze. We will not know if we make any progress except, in this case, whenever we end up going higher up in this cave system. As we travel, I notice that Kotone appears to be almost unfazed by the heat. I do not know what Persona she currently has active, but it is definitely one that is immune to fire.

"I'm sorry I can't help. Ugh... If only there's a device or anything that can protect you too... Why don't I have it...!?"

Kotone is feeling guilty. I understand. It is unfair, we are unable to support each other in this situation. From our past experiences, we have learned to not let either of us hindered by anything. But back then, we had a more adequate support and the situations are never anywhere near-lethal as this. Even then, we still made team mistakes. That really proves us that we are indeed not prepared for places like this. But if we give up here... Yuki will get us...

Come to think of it, his name means nothing here. Whatever special ability he has, I am sure he can survive this place. I mean, at the most basic, unknown beings can possibly adapt to any lethal environment... right?

"...Hold on."

My wandering thoughts are stopped by Kotone offering her hand. I must be really exhausted from all the heat. In my mind, I hope that just holding on to her can allow her Persona's ability to affect me, but it is never the case in reality. It seems making false hopes is what happens when my consciousness is unstable. Before I knew it, Kotone grips my right hand tightly, snapping me back to reality the second time.

"We'll make it through, no problem. ...Together."

That self-assurance is enough to keep my thoughts stable for the time being. We will brave through this cavern.

When we reach a higher part of the cavern, a Shadow shaped like a giant lizard suddenly appears before us. It has a single horn, sharp teeth and claws, and a long tail with fire burning at the tip. The mask is right above its upper jaw. It blocks our only way forward, so we have no choice but to fight it. Now that my mind is in the right place, I ready my boxing gloves and begin observing the lizard's actions.

The Shadow swipes its claws across us, but we manage to leap back far enough to avoid it. That leaves enough opening for me to land a punch on its face. One hard punch, and I can see several of its teeth shatter on impact. I run back as it stares at me angrily. Heh, looks like that thing wants some more. I pull out my Evoker, point it to my forehead, then pull the trigger. Caesar appears, and proceeds to fire lightning bolts on the Shadow. It flinches from the shock, but does not go down, though this is enough to let Kotone do her part. She slashes the lizard with her naginata several times. While we can see the visible scars left on it, it remains aggressive as if it does not feel any pain from the slashes. The Shadow roars and tries to perform its claw swipe again. Fortunately, Kotone is unharmed, but the impact caused her to lose her grip on her naginata, which gets launched away. I can not let that thing attack her like that. While it is focused more on Kotone, I begin to wind up my punch as I run towards it. By the time it becomes aware of my presence, I manage to punch it right at the masked part. It gasps as it coughs up some black, gooey matter. It seems the impact was powerful enough to badly damage the Shadow. It falls, and then it disappears. Meanwhile, Kotone has managed to grab her naginata back.

"Are you okay?"

Kotone is concerned. It seems that the battle made me forget the cavern's heat. So much so, I almost pass out.

"...I'm worried that your condition will get worse if you engage the Shadows like that. Thanks for the help, though."

Even though I am tired, I keep assuring that I can keep going. She shakes her head, still worried.

"We have to stay together. I can't just lose you. I don't want to imagine what will happen if either of us succumbs to the environment... If you're not in a good condition, I'll try to make it up for you."

I can not leave Kotone alone either. But neither of us has to go at it alone while one of us is weakened. We can always protect each other. We can always work together regardless of circumstances.

"Come on. Let's go. We have to get past this."

I hold Kotone's hand. I try to not let go, or hinder the travel in any way. I try to keep a steady pace.

We are at an even higher part of the cavern. Here, it appears to be a wide open area. There are no Shadows roaming around, so we decide to rest a bit and evaluate our belongings. It appears we even managed to scavenge various things in this place somehow. Considering the nature of the anomalies, we might as well expect more things like this in our next trips. Speaking of anomalies, there are no signs of Yuki, not even his voice. Is he still waiting somewhere, about to ambush us? I still do not think that Yuki giving up his search here is likely. Anyway, we still have our goal. We have to keep moving forward.

After a long while walking through more and more of the red hot caves, we eventually find the path leading to the outside. Finally. As much as we hate the bleak-looking environment surrounding the volcano, we would rather see the terrifyingly beautiful view of the volcano than suffering from intense heat in cramped spaces. If Yuki voices his disapproval over this, we can be sure that he is close by. We keep walking. However, we are surprised by someone we did not expect to be here.

"You..."

That guy... Didn't he...?

"I heard about you. I heard that you have a hand in the world's fate. As in, you're the even bigger root of the problem. And that's enough for me and Takaya to look for you."

Jin. One of the members of Strega. Last time we saw him, he jumped off the bridge along with Takaya. I do not even know what they just did, and how they even knew of this place. Wait a minute, don't tell me...

"Apparently, your absolute powers will erase Takaya's wish if you succeed, so I'm going to stop you as quickly as possible. I'm not holding back!"

We do not have time for this. When Jin summons his Persona to block our path, I have had enough. I call upon Caesar to rain lightning bolts at the Strega member.

"GAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Hmph. Weak as usual. Weaker, even. Jin's Persona disappears, while his electrified body collapses on the ground. Kotone and I decide to leave him be. Once again, we do not have time for this. If he was an anomaly, I wish our journey would make him and Takaya disappear. Especially Takaya, for what he had done to Shinji...

Kotone and I walk further and further away from the volcanic region. The glows from the red hot lava eventually fade away to be replaced with the usual Dark Hour, well, darkness. Even the heat becomes less and less the further we go. As for our condition, to put it simply, we are kind of close to being completely soaked in our own sweat. Any injury and poisoning have been quickly treated with the help of Kotone. Words can not describe how horrible it all was. Anyway, according to Kotone, the next part of the promised path is a forest. While the place sounds tame especially after leaving the hell (the volcano might as well be literally this) we just went through, we can not let our guard down. We can not tell what kind of forest it is... until we come to a realization later.

"Huff... huff... We made it through."

Kotone and I look behind. The volcano is now simply a small piece of scenery we will never come back to. To be honest, it looks hauntingly beautiful when seen from this distance.

"It's strangely breathtaking, isn't it? But... Yuki might come after us anytime soon... We have to keep going."

Right. What were we thinking? There is no time for something unnecessary like this.

"I wonder... what do you think about our chances of not getting caught by Yuki? We haven't seen him yet in our journey so far, only hearing his voices, but we have yet to plan something in case we're nearly done for. I still don't understand what Yuki is."

We discuss about that possibility while walking. Yuki is such a mysterious being, we can not imagine what will happen if we engage him in battle. He has the ability to jump from his home world to ours easily, but to what extent? While he is armed with a weapon, is he actually really competent in combat?

"...I still can't think of anything. But... let's focus on our journey. There's no point feeling sad over this now."

I agree. No matter what, we have to prove that this world deserves a second chance. Giving up is not in my list, not even in Kotone's for that matter. I always admire Kotone's determination. It was first shown during our club outings, and it could only grow more apparent the longer she stayed. This journey might as well test her determination too.

"I still have you. As long as we stay together, we'll feel safe."

I will stay with you all the way, Kotone.

Due to the permanent Dark Hour, we basically have no sense of time, but we can tell we have walked for a long while. Bit by bit, something appears on the horizon. But the temperature keeps gradually dropping. Soon, the barren ground we walk on fades to white. Snow. The closer we are to the next destination, the more obvious it is. A snowy forest. I remember that a few of my deaths were caused by the cold temperature. This place ends up carrying a higher risk for me.

"Brr... I wasn't told it's going to be like this, but this should be our last stretch before the tower. Let's go."

Despite what she said, I can see she is feeling slightly hesitant. I am not sure why, but I am sure I can find out the answer later. We enter the forest.

Every step we take, we hear snow crunching under our feet. I wonder why the snow remains as is during the hidden hour, at least here, I think. Maybe a blood-caked forest would be too scary, I guess. As we go deeper, the forest gets darker with thicker trees. So far, we have not encountered any Shadows yet. We have not heard Yuki's voice either. The walk feels peaceful yet very lonely with just the two of us. As we keep walking in a straight path...

We hear an additional footstep from a distance. We stop walking and begin looking around. Who knows what might come out from between the trees. Kotone then looks up, and gasps in surprise. I look at the direction Kotone is looking at. A nearby cliff. There is a person up there, looking at us. The person appears to be a young girl. Appearance-wise, she appears to be one of the people with the funny proportions. Her head is large and round. Her shoulder-length hair is pink. Her eyes look like sparkly black beads, each having a single eyelash. Her nose is red and triangular in shape. Her limbs look thin. Her hands appear to be mitten-shaped, only her thumbs are her visible fingers. She wears a pink dress with a white daisy print on it, a pair of white and blue striped socks, and red shoes. With that look, she should be shivering, but nope.

Before we could even say anything to her, the girl runs off. What was all that about? Is she a friend? An enemy?

"That was really strange. I don't know what to make of it either."

Even Kotone is not sure. Because of that encounter, we decide to up our cautiousness. There is no telling whether we will get in trouble or not from letting that strange girl see us.

Now, we begin to see Shadows roaming around the forest. We wonder if the pink-haired girl's presence earlier is a bad omen. Like before, we try to avoid battling them as much as possible. The trees may help in our stealth, but Shadows might be hiding behind them too. We do end up battling a few, but never to the level of carelessness in the mine. On the bright side, this gives us more things to scavenge from. Eventually, we reach an open field with no Shadows. This should be a perfect place to rest for a bit.

We know this is risky, but we now desperately need some warmth. Kotone summons Orpheus, who begins generating a fireball in her hands. With the Persona's hands lowered, we sit near the fireball, enjoying the warmth. I rub my hands together. It is funny that before we really wanted somewhere cold, yet here we are, now wanting some heat source. Indeed, the opposing temperatures are good, but not in the extreme. I snap back from my daydreaming when I realize that Kotone has moved closer to me. As I enjoy the warmth with Kotone, I look at the path forward. It appears to be branching into two. There can be only one that will lead us to our destination. I begin to think while looking at the paths. One path has more trees than the other. Assuming we have to go deeper to reach the Smash Tower, the path with the denser trees seems to be the most plausible. But what if the other path can give us a better look of what is ahead due to the lesser amount of trees? Kotone is not sure either.

Now that we are fine with walking again, Kotone recalls Orpheus and we stand up. With no telling which way to go, we decide to just go with the first assumption and pick the path with the denser trees. As if the Dark Hour did not make things dark enough, the even thicker trees almost render what is ahead completely black. I simply hold Kotone's hand as we walk through this path, not wanting either of us getting separated and then lost in complete darkness. Of course, the ground is not as friendly too. We eventually end up trapped in a mud puddle. I try to push through, but the mud will not let me. We even try to move together, trying to pull ourselves in opposite directions in an attempt to get out easier. The mud is too strong for both of us. Kotone does not give up. She struggles for a while as I wait for the result. It took approximately a few minutes, but she manages to crawl out. Seeing that, I try to do the same, but the mud still weighs me down. Kotone bites her bottom lip, thinking. Now that she is free, perhaps she can help pulling me out. It takes some more struggling, not helped by Kotone having trouble pulling my weight that gets hindered by the mud, to finally get myself free from the mud puddle. After all that, we begin to watch our step even more carefully here.

Just when I thought I was careful enough, I end up slipping from a downward slope and tumbling down a hill. In the near-darkness, I have no idea what I end up bumping against on the way down, but I know that all of them are painful. Once it finally stops, I can only wince from my body aching all over. Nrggh...

I do not know if Kotone is still following me, so I try to reach down my bag to grab some first-aid kit. Never thought I would be having difficulty moving my own arm like this again... I try to apply as much medicine on my injuries. Even the whole self-healing process is painful. Suddenly, I hear a rough scraping sound.

"Senpai! Are you okay!?"

Kotone has slid down the hill. It is difficult to see, but I know that the figure standing near me is her. She begins helping me out with the treatment. As I rest while letting the medicine take effect, I turn my head towards what appears to be a small dot. Is that a clearing? I want to believe it is.

"Huh? Oh! I hope that leads us out of here, even for a moment. Maybe we can check where we actually are for a bit."

I nod in agreement. Kotone helps me stand up. We begin moving towards the dot. The further we walk, the bigger it becomes. Once it is close enough, our thoughts were correct. It is some sort of clearing, or at least leading us to an area with less dense trees. We have to see.

When we finally get out, we end up at another wide open field. Suddenly, the wind starts to pick up. In a few seconds, the wind escalates into a harsh winter storm. Just when we thought we can get a good look here... Between all this snow, we can make out a silhouette walking towards us. It appears to be a person. And that is...

"...How dare you take out my associate just like that."

It can not be. Takaya has caught up to us!?

"A world like this is beautiful, isn't it? I'm really enjoying this, until I heard that you're going to defy it. What is it about a world you truly desire, that you're daring to invade the world's heart? It appears that you're the only ones with the power to do so..."

He does not seem to mind the cold. But that does not matter... I can not believe I am facing him again. The person who shot Shinji...

"I met a being. A holy being who told me of you two. People say that resolving the root of the problem will solve a given predicament. In this case... you have to die."

I knew it. Yuki is behind all this. I do not even know if he is secretly a part of Strega, but regardless of the circumstances, that guy is going to be so dead. I then watch as the silhouette begins to move in a particular way. The blizzard calms down slightly, and that is when I can see what he is about to do. He is going to shoot us. I yell at Kotone to jump aside. When Takaya makes his first shot, we manage to successfully dodge it. With him still on sight, disregarding my own injuries, I quickly rush over and punch him, causing him to drop his gun. He then dodges my other punches and manages to get his gun back. He quickly faces me as he fires another shot. Thankfully, I anticipated this and end up dodging it. I grab my Evoker and call Caesar. Takaya gets struck by Caesar's lightning bolt.

"Ngh! Why are you so persistent!?"

The injuries really hinder me, so I let Kotone take care of Takaya. Kotone strikes with her naginata, knocking Takaya's gun off his hands again. This time Takaya resorts to wrestling against Kotone's naginata. Neither appears to be giving an edge... until Takaya successfully disarms her, her naginata sent flying to a distance. Not again...

I am willing to risk my stamina for Kotone's sake. I call upon Caesar again to blast Takaya with more lightning bolts.

"ARGH!! Why... you..."

Takaya's body is badly electrified as he lies down on the snow, motionless. As Kotone goes to pick up her weapon, I approach the paralyzed Takaya and give him as many punches as my anger would allow. I soon realize this was a mistake. The continuous pain inflicted on him is enough to kick up his stress level and allows him to summon his own Persona as a last resort. The floating humanoid abomination begins gathering orbs of light... I know this attack. I try to run away as far as I can, but the resulting explosion from that spell creates a shock wave that hits me. My vision blurs momentarily as I struggle to get up. I catch a glimpse of Kotone in a distance. I think she is still okay? I am not sure. I yell for help.

"I'm here!"

Kotone stands near me as she summons one of her Personas to heal me. Once that is taken care of, she helps me stand up. In a rush, I try to summon Caesar again, but his lightning bolt somehow misses the motionless Takaya and instead hits a nearby tree, setting it on fire. All these injuries have made me lose concentration. Kotone summons Orpheus, who begins pelting Takaya's Persona with fire attacks. Another massive explosion ensues, and I end up having to heal myself again from the resulting shock wave. While I am trying to treat my injuries... I hear Kotone groaning in pain. I was so bewildered by the attack I did not notice Kotone taking the hit.

"D-Don't worry about me... I'm t-trying to finish it off..."

I crawl towards her and treat her injuries with some of my medicine. Kotone then immediately stands up, despite not fully healed. Her Orpheus is seen launching several more fire attacks at Takaya's Persona.

"Thanks."

I am worried about you, Kotone.

"You're not going anywhere!"

We hear Takaya shout. Despite his exhaustion, he is still content about keeping his Persona active. The abomination gathers light again before dropping it down in a massive explosion. We get launched backwards from the impact, again. Kotone quickly recalls the damaged Orpheus and summons a different Persona to heal both of us. Before we are given a chance to retaliate, Takaya's Persona is performing the explosive spell again. My body is wounded badly from the explosion. My vision blurs momentarily again. When I finally get a clear view, I gasp in horror. Kotone has slumped over to the ground. No... NO...!!!

I angrily look back at Takaya. That bastard. I struggle to move my arm to pick up my Evoker and call Caesar. A massive lightning bolt strikes Takaya's body, as well as his Persona, which happens to be floating right above him. I shield my eyes from the intense light. I hear Takaya screaming in agony. I could not care any less about him. He is finished, his entire body completely charred and his Persona disappeared. I drop down on my knees as I breathe heavily, exhausted. I look over at Kotone's unconscious body. Please... Kotone... Koton-

* * *

I slowly open my eyes. Have I fallen asleep? I appear to be lying on a pile of leaves. I look to my left. Kotone appears to be feeling weak, but alive. She appears to be almost tearing up.

"You're awake! Thank goodness... When I somehow managed to open my eyes, I feared the worst. One wrong move, and it would be the end of me."

I still remember that she was injured horribly before I passed out, so hearing this makes me feel relieved. She is indeed still alive. Suddenly, I hear another noise. I look to the other side. That is the pink-haired girl from before. She is pulling out some leaves slathered with honey which she places on my wounds. No wonder I am feeling a stinging sensation.

"You two suffered horribly."

She finally speaks to us.

"The girl managed to regain her consciousness, so I helped her recover her strength. Then we helped you."

I see, so that is why.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. It sounds weird, but I was making sure if you're... part of the prophecy. You see, this seemingly-endless darkness has turned most people into coffins. I thought it would make things easier for me, but of course it's not the case."

Prophecy? She knows of it? The one Roy told me, about the world's fate or something like that?

"I'm a wanderer who helps guide people tied to the prophecy to the Smash Tower and thus activate its full power to fulfill the prophecy. I... don't really have a name, but I decide to give myself the code name 'Villager'."

Okay... that was a strange introduction. "Villager" as a code name, really? Anyway, I begin to wonder how she eventually found out about us. I ask her about it.

"About that... I had my eye on the two of you since I saw you enter the forest."

So she basically spied on us. I hope she is not part of Yuki's scheme. We are so tired of it at this point. In annoyance, I ask her about Yuki.

"No, I don't know."

Liar.

"I told you, I'm just a wanderer tied to the Smash Tower! I only know what I've already seen."

While that is not enough to convince me yet, as long as she is not actively trying to harm us, we will be fine. On another note, I still need to recover from my injuries. Thinking too much may lead us into trouble.

After a long while, I am now healthy enough to continue the journey. I am relieved that despite all this trouble, we have yet to get caught by Yuki himself. Despite this, we have to stay wary. Before we leave, I ask Villager where the Smash Tower is. She points to the mountains. I thought it is located at the forest, but Villager explains that the forest is split by a row of icy mountains that need to be traversed to reach. I am disappointed that we are still further away from the destination, but it is better to know the exact location than wandering cluelessly. Anyway, since Villager is vital to our journey, she now tags along with us. At first glance, she does not seem to be carrying anything. Let her pull something out of her dress' pocket and it is revealed that she can pull out a variety of tools as improvised weapon like an axe, a shovel, and even a bug-catching net. I can not be sure about her strength, but I trust her weapon versatility.

"Before we go, mind if I see the key artifact?"

What did Villager mean by a key artifact? My trophy? Speaking of, I begin to search my pouch in panic. We have gone through intense battles, and not once did I pay attention to my pouch containing the trophy. Thankfully, despite everything, my pouch is fine, and the trophy is still safely tucked inside. I show the mushroom trophy to Villager.

"Mhm. This is the one that the tower uses to mark the chosen. You can't just simply find it at a random place."

I explain that I got it from Link and Roy, the two people from the Smash Tower itself.

"Exactly. Well... I just need to confirm things..."

After that, we make our way to the mountains. We walk on the ascending path. I soon realize that this might turn out as bad as the volcano, or even worse. Considering how cold the forest is to begin with, the cold here can be even more brutal as we go up higher. I can feel the cold outright penetrating into my bones. It really tests our limits. I almost pass out a few times. Only my desire to see the whole journey to the end, as well as Kotone's help, allow me to keep going.

There are various sceneries to be found. On the lower areas, we pass by frozen bushes. We go a bit higher, and we can see a lot of tall, slender, needle-like spires made out of ice and snow. Higher up, we can still find a forested area. However, all the trees are completely frozen over. They also look rather thin and have no leaves at all. Thought we would be free from Shadow attacks? No. These things just roam around without the cold affecting them. The silver lining is that the intense battles provide warmth on their own. Besides, it is better to move a lot than standing still, freezing. Speaking of battles, I can finally see how Villager fights. Definitely unusual with her constant weapon-switching, but still works. She basically slays those Shadows with various items that she can somehow store in her dress pocket without hindering her movement. She even has no problems dropping bowling balls and flower pots, and they are all surprisingly effective in damaging the Shadows. Hell, her strength might as well be near our level. Perhaps being a lone wanderer focused on the Smash Tower really helps.

The experience so far is, indeed, really close to our trek through the volcano. Extremely harsh environment combined with sudden Shadow encounters... Despite everything, we feel we are still making a steady progress. However...

"Ngghhh..."

Kotone suddenly falls over! What caused this!? I was sure that she already had an ice Persona out. Is she still weak from her injuries? Is she exhausted? Regardless, I prop her body up and help her walk. Villager also helps while keeping track of myself as well. I can not lose myself too.

"W-We... have to... keep moving... or Yuki..."

The weather can only become even harsher as we travel further, but as this is the promised path, we can not turn back no matter what. I am sure that going through all these trials will be worth it. We just have to support each other.

Our focus right now is to find a good resting spot. It might be unlikely at a place this high, since the snow and hail become more often, but we have to try. Going back down may risk us running into Yuki. As we go higher up, there are less Shadows that can be encountered. Not to mention, the Shadows in this area move more sluggishly and seem to be more content trying to scare us off instead of inflicting any harm. Eventually, we find a wide open area that should be a good enough place to rest. Villager places some leaves on the ground, then I gently place Kotone on the thin bed of leaves. From here, we can see how wide the forest we just left is. The snow-covered trees down there can be easily mistaken as a thicker layer of snow now. If only we can see the other half of the forest, but alas, we are by a cliffside.

"I-It's difficult t-to start a fire here... but w-we can't just leave ourselves f-frozen to death here..."

Villager has just made a campfire. The fire is small and always at risk of going out, but it is the best we can have in this situation. Sure, there is no snowfall or hail anymore, but that does not change the fact about the temperature up here. Hopefully the small fire will not leave us open to Yuki.

As I look at the scenery down below, I begin to notice something. There is a small patch of dark among the snowy trees. They look like houses. Is that... a village? The reason Villager gave herself the codename? And... is it me, or am I hearing voices? Why am I feeling so uneasy all of a sudden...? I-

...I just vomited. I think I just saw screaming and crying children. All burning. But I am not anywhere near that place. A magical vision? Just my imagination? Illusion based on my worst nightmare? Shadows at work? I try to shake the feeling off, but the screaming will not stop. I cover my ears, trying to block the noises this time, but that does not work. The freezing weather only makes things worse. Also, is it me or the place is getting darker and darker...?

_Why did you leave me...?_

A young girl's voice. It sounds familiar.

_It's painful... The fire... The fire..._

No, this can not be it. No... No... NO!! STOP IT!!

"SNAP OUT OF IT!"

I open my eyes again. I look at the scenery below the mountain again. There is nothing but snow and snow-covered trees.

"I don't know what exactly happened, but something might be clouding your mind. You can't lose your mind in a place like this!"

I look back. Villager. She has just saved my sanity. Did the cold weather really do a number to my head? I can not forget what I have experienced, though. Whatever it was, it tried to torment me. Meanwhile, Kotone is still sleeping, snoring softly. She appears to be curled up on her side, with her back towards me. I guess she really is just tired from losing too much of her stamina. I should not be surprised, but the risk of death always looms over us. No matter how strong or tough she is, I will still worry about her. I walk towards her and sit down beside her. I take off my sweater vest and put it over her body. It is not much, but I would rather not see anyone else suffering.

"You okay with that?"

Villager just asked. I tell her that I am fine with it. As we wait for Kotone to recover her strength, I talk with Villager. I first ask her about the Smash Tower. Specifically, what awaits us at the top.

"The top of the Smash Tower is said to be truly divine. I'll only know what exactly it looks like once I succeed in guiding you two. The place you get to witness the tower's true power... The future you will form..."

My future...? Our future...?

"No one has ever set foot at the top of the tower. Visitors can walk into the tower all they want, but they won't be able to access that part unless the tower allows them. The top of the tower is where the prophecy will be fulfilled."

Still sounds vague, but whatever it is it makes my heart tremble. My club has climbed a really high tower before. That tower is surreal enough as it is with its own twisted rules and warped spaces. However, when we reached the top located on the fourth block, it does not look as strange. Aside from one last old document found there, there is nothing else remarkable. The old documents help us with some clues, but the tower's whole purpose, or anything related to the anomalies, remains unclear. Is Smash Tower the same way?

Anything about Smash Tower's existence still perplexes me. I decide to think about it later. I check on Kotone. She is still asleep. Or maybe not.

"Ah...! Where is this?"

She has just jolted awake. It appears her usual energy has returned. I explain to her that we are still at the freezing mountains, but we should be nearing the halfway point.

"I see. I must have passed out."

Kotone sighs, and starts to grab her belongings. I suddenly realize that my vest is still on her. I quickly look away as soon as she notices that red piece of clothing. I hear her giggle.

"How considerate! Thanks for caring for me while I was out cold!"

That teasing tone. I just say nothing. This is embarrassing. Kotone hands me the vest back before going back to check her supplies. I wear the sweater vest again before confirming the situation with Villager.

"Let's keep following the path upward."

With that, we continue. We try to brave through the colder temperature. Suddenly, Kotone stops walking.

"I heard a voice just now. ...Did you hear it too?"

I did not catch any suspicious sound aside from the wind. Villager does not seem to hear it either. Kotone shakes her head, trying to shrug it off as just her imagination.

We continue the walk. We battle Shadows. We scavenge things. We eat through our supplies. The mountain path twists and turns. Eventually, we reach the peak, where we should begin our descent, when suddenly...

"I've finally found you..."

A kindly, yet sinister voice is heard. We look back.

Yuki.

"Now, let's settle this."

No... No... I am not ready for this. We are going to be done for.

"YUKI!!!"

Another voice is heard. Deep and raspy.

Someone else shows up behind Yuki. This guy has messy, spiky red hair. His eyes are glowing red. His skin is reddish brown. He wears a pair of black ripped shorts as well as metal chains around his neck and both of his wrists. He also has a piercing on his left ear. I think he would not be out of place in the typical fire and brimstone hell. He might as well be the "evil" counterpart of the angelic-looking Yuki. Suddenly, the darker figure begins to fight against Yuki, to our confusion. We wonder if we can use this opportunity to escape, but the hellish being glares at us.

"Don't think about getting away from me! I'll rip you apart too!"

Seeing that guy being able to go toe-to-toe against Yuki, we can not imagine how powerful he would be against us. We have no choice but just watch their battle ensuing. If we try to intervene, our lives would be at a bigger risk.

"Ngh... Not at a time like this, Neo!"

That guy's name is Neo?

"You've really made a mess of things this time, haven't you? I should have known better than to leave you alive, considering what you're planning. But, before we talk about that, I'm going to enjoy watching you suffer! You can't beat me!"

Yuki and Neo... Are they from the same dimension, considering how much they know each other? Or are they from different dimensions and only got to know each other once they ended up in this world? As I try to piece everything in mind, I hear Neo letting out a roar as he tackles Yuki down to the icy cold ground. Despite being pinned, Yuki refuses to let himself defeated.

"You're one corrupt soul. You think you'll be the one to claim this world? Heh, no."

Yuki is being smug about the whole thing. More reason to hate him. Wait a minute... claiming this world? So... the two are competing over it? I do not understand. We watch as Yuki successfully throws Neo away, freeing him and allowing him to get back up.

"Yes, you heard that. Don't even think that this critter will save you from me. He really means it when it comes to ripping you apart."

Yuki just warned us. It does not make any difference when he is also equally dangerous. We watch Neo get up. The two are a few meters apart from each other. As they face each other and begin to square off...

!!!

There is a glow. I notice where it is coming from. My pouch containing the mushroom trophy. I open it up and hold onto the trophy. The glow is much harsher once it is outside, forcing me to close my eyes. What is happening?

...

When the light stops emanating from the trophy, everyone present ends up fascinated by a flying creature that suddenly appeared. Is this from the trophy? The green-colored creature has a large round head with the back curving to a point, what appears to be a pair of antennas on said head, blue eyes surrounded by black rings, arms longer than its short torso, round toeless feet, and clear wings on its back. It seems to be some sort of fairy?

"What the-"

The fairy-like creature turns back to see Yuki and Neo who are close to beating each other again.

"I am Celebi. I am the spirit of this trophy."

It just spoke. As I try to understand what is happening, I can see Yuki going from mild confusion to back being smug again.

"So? Why do you even matter here?"

"It's about time I make this clear."

"If it's related to this world, then spill the truth. Those cretins keep denying everything."

Damn you, Yuki...

"This world's fate... While it is true that the anomalies existing in this world are what driving it into doom... the true cause lies somewhere else."

Somewhere else? The anomalies are not related to our existence whatsoever?

"What?! But the truth is right behind you!"

Yuki points at us. Or is it Kotone? Or just me? Either way, I am sick of his guts.

"I can already tell that you two are not supposed to exist. Whatever created you... or the dimension you're coming from... is why the anomalies ran rampant. Begone."

That thing called Celebi begins to concentrate. In less than a second, both Yuki and Neo are enveloped in a purple glow, unable to move. Shortly after... they are gone! Just like that! If only this was possible earlier...

"Now I can finally talk to you."

When it finally faces us, I begin to feel weirded out by the fact that it does not move its small mouth while speaking. I will not be surprised if it utilizes telepathy, or whatever kind of magic it has.

"Their disappearance won't last long, but should be long enough for you to reach Smash Tower. Speaking of, now that you're getting closer to your destination, I need to tell you this. I won't take too long, since I'll have to return to the trophy again otherwise my powers will dissipate."

Villager simply looks at us in anticipation. Kotone and I nod at each other, ready to take in the information.

"There was a time when the entire world desired total extinction. Or rather, complete erasure of all existence. This forever doomed the world, creating anomalies in preparation of the complete chaos. The world's heart, the Smash Tower, was supposed to keep the world balance in check. Eventually, the anomalies overpowered the tower, causing it to risk collapsing at any time. As a result, the tower began its call for the chosen who wished to give the world a second chance. You two may not look like it, but I sense some denial within you. You've lived through the hard times and you can't lie that you might even have considered giving up life, but deep inside you actually want world peace."

So the reason Kotone and I were chosen... was because of mere denial? It is indeed hard to admit that I really wanted a truly peaceful world where none of these troubles happen. My mind constantly rejects such optimistic thought. While I can not tell what is in Kotone's mind, from what Celebi said, it is safe to assume she shares the same issue. We simply look down, still not accepting the truth.

"You over there."

Celebi gestures to Villager.

"Yes?"

"Got the song ready?"

"Yes. I've been preparing for this for a long time."

A song? What does it mean? Sure, Villager's connection to the tower has become more apparent from that conversation, but I still do not understand what other purpose she serves aside from guiding us to the tower. As if noticing our confusion, Celebi focuses its sight on Kotone and me again.

"Oh. You might not know this. To finally unleash Smash Tower's true power, not only you need to place the required key trophy at the top of the tower, but also sing the world's song. Only very few people can sing it right. The world thrives in harmony. You might not hear it, but the world may hum its own melody at times of peace."

This world. This planet. Singing. This is getting stranger.

"However... I have to warn you."

Hold on, there is a catch for saving the world?

"The way this cleansing works is by reverting the world back to the time before the anomalies showed up, just without the anomalies popping up again in the renewed world to worry about. Everything will be undone, which means things may not be the same..."

So, to put it simply, saving the world is like pressing the reset button to rebuild everything without the unneeded gunk. But... when Celebi said "everything," could it mean...?

"So, if you're actually really close to each other... you may need to make good use of the current moment before you go with the final decision."

I look at Kotone. She is still looking down. She has not said a word to Celebi, but I can tell she shares the same conclusion as me. Everything... includes our memories. The first time we met... When we got to know each other better... Our struggles... The moments we shared together... If we save the world, there is no telling if we can repeat the exact same things.

"Regardless, it all comes down to your decision. I'm sorry I have to inform you about this. That is my duty."

Celebi finally disappears, its life energy returning to the trophy I am holding. The warm light fades away to be replaced with the cold mountain wind again. Kotone and I remain doubtful.

"If you just stand here, you'll freeze to death. We can talk about this again once we complete the descent."

Villager basically forced us to keep moving. Then again, we still value our lives. We are not going to just lose them to the freezing winds over a complicated thought. The three of us begin the descent. It is still a long journey to the Smash Tower, but fortunately, there is still no snowfall, so the weather hopefully should not become any worse. We can finally see what appears to be a spire at a distance. It is so tall, it pierces through the clouds. It reminds us of Tartarus, except, at least from what we can tell, it is not chaotic-looking.

The descent surprisingly does not present as much problem as the ascent. We do not encounter any Shadows and the path is mostly straightforward, making it feel like a shorter journey. As we climb down, I keep pondering what the Smash Tower would look like up close. It is still too early to tell considering how far it is. Eventually, after a long while, we reach the bottom. The entrance to the forest awaits us. We proceed without looking back.

As we walk, I see that Kotone is still feeling down. I know that the truth hurts. And come to think of it, doesn't this remind us of the Chairman's goal? The world reset is basically us causing the end of the world to start it over. Except, we have no control over the new world. But still, won't we be the same level as him in a way...?

"...I've been thinking."

Kotone begins to speak.

"I'm always told that sacrifices in life are inevitable. Never thought it would be something like this."

Indeed, the positives of our messed up life have to be given up just to give this world a second chance. It would be selfish for us to try to hang on while the world is destroying itself.

"Another thing. Neo. I remember now. He's the one actively hunting me down for nearly my whole life. The seemingly mysterious forces no one can explain, but moments before I died from those, his very presence usually flashed briefly in my eyes. I'm lucky to even be able to persist no matter how painful every death is. When I finally saw Neo and Yuki fighting each other, that's when I put two and two together..."

She does not explain any further. I have no idea what exactly she is implying. I can only see Neo being the darker counterpart of Yuki. However, Kotone said that Neo's obsession with trying to kill her has been a thing for years, while Yuki only began hunting me down when he finally presented himself to me, which was only recently. No matter how I look at it, the two are not from this universe. Not from this existence. Celebi already showed us the clear proof. Both are out for our blood. If what Celebi said is true, then technically everyone in existence made us the universe's punching bag via their mere existence. Everyone, including the people we know and love. I mean, that is how the anomalies work, right? But... why? Was I right in thinking that living is a sin, especially with the current context? Why do we end up suffering?

...I do not think there is an answer to that. There is only so much we can understand.

"...I feel bad for you two. It's unbelievable that there's no easy way out of this. But... would you rather have the entire existence erased forever, or hope that luck will bring you together again? I hate to admit, I'm not understanding enough, having lived mostly alone my entire life."

Villager tries to keep us on track. She did admit that she will not be of any help for this except for guiding us to the end. No matter what, we are still unable to accept the truth. It is too painful. So painful, we turn it into our anger against the Shadows we encounter. If only there is a better alternative, somewhere... Even if hidden, at least we might know it exists.

"I know I'm being annoying about this, but can we move on already?!"

Villager has just stashed her boxing gloves back into her pocket. Thanks to our lost sense of time from the Dark Hour, we did not realize we have been fighting so many Shadows without making any progress in the forest at all. The fights were nearly devoid of teamwork. Kotone only cared about Shadows heading her way, I only aggressively punched every Shadow I saw, while Villager only cleared off Shadows that we missed. Villager has grown more irritated, so we just wordlessly push forward.

We almost fall off a steep rockface. We end up taking a long way around due to fallen trees. We go through dense trees again. As we go, conversations start again, though it is more focused on the journey.

"I'm not sure if this is the right path."

"We'll be there soon. I'm sure of it."

"What do you think could be causing those trees to fall?!"

"We could go down that path."

"It seems it might lead to a dead end."

"We can make it to the other side."

"I think it would be best to go the other way."

"Try following the streams."

We are now walking by a blood red river. The wide open area around us allows us to see the tall tower better. It looks like we have to cross the river. After looking around for a bit, we see a bridge spanning the stream. It is one of those narrow wooden bridges. Kotone walks on it first, followed by me and then Villager. We watch our step and balance in order to not risk falling into the stream of red or breaking the bridge altogether. Thankfully, despite the tense feeling throughout the entire crossing, we manage to make it safely. It feels like a long trip. Still focused on the tower, we continue on. We eventually arrive at yet another dense area. Large trees so close together they might as well form a cavern. We end up trying to stay as close together as possible as we travel through the pitch black tunnels of trees. The progress is slow but careful. The only thing that helps us see in this place is a light-emitting orb, one of the strange items we managed to scavenge during our journey.

Before we knew it, we end up seeing the sky again. The moon seems to be much larger than normally possible, even larger than in the previous Dark Hours. We look at the front. The Smash Tower is so close already, but it is located uphill. That should make it our last obstacle.

"The fastest way to reach it is to climb it."

Indeed, Villager. Before I could even begin to analyze the cliff, Kotone has started clambering up the steep steps on the cliff face. I still worry about her, but I do not feel like talking to her for the moment, so I just follow her lead and begin climbing.

"...I hope you guys are still okay."

As we continue climbing up the hill, I begin to notice Villager slowing down during the brief moment I looked down. I ask her if she is okay.

"I... I just..."

She just mumbles like that before continuing the climb as normal. Maybe she just got tired briefly. When I look up, I notice Kotone no longer climbing. In fact, she appears to be sitting. Is there a flat area up there? With that in mind, I muster my strength to keep climbing. By the time I reach a flat portion of the cliffside, Villager starts having difficulty again. For someone with a lot of weaponized tools, she sure does not have one suitable for climbing. I offer my hand to help her.

"...Ugh. Thanks."

Villager takes my hand. I pull her up as she also pushes herself up. She finally joins us on the small rest area. However, for a while, no other words are exchanged.

"...I'll leave you be for a moment. I'm sorry for being inconsiderate about your feelings."

I just watch Villager walking as far away from us as possible and then sitting on the ledge, not looking at us. I look at Kotone. She remains silent with a gloomy look on her face. I try to recall what she said earlier. Sacrifices... Yuki and Neo... I can only come up with the same implication as before. Now that I am feeling a bit calmer than before, perhaps I can try to properly infer what she said, since it does not look like she wants to state it outright. Kotone... why are you so cryptic all of a sudden? This is so unlike you...

Wait...

This is so unlike her? There must be something else. The implication might be even worse than what I came up with. I have to do something.

"Hm? What is it?"

I need to know more about Yuki and Neo, and I am curious about the sacrifice she talked about.

"It's simple. Yuki's goal is to take me to his world and thus he can continue living while our world is destroyed. But as long as you're here, he'll always have difficulty finding me. Neo is Yuki's rival. He doesn't want Yuki to take all the credit. He wants everything for himself. If Yuki is taken out... let's say that he'll cause The Fall and then rule over the destroyed world. Once again, Yuki needs me to complete his goal, and that's why Neo tried to kill me."

So, if even one is left surviving, the end of our world remains certain... But what about my involvement with Yuki?

"Um... Considering we're now the chosen, it finally makes sense. They have to know about the prophecy somewhere. In a twist of fate, both of us ended up entangled in the anomalies... We're both lucky and unlucky living this life."

Kotone chuckles, but to me it seems that she is about to cry. I can not lie, I am saddened too.

"As for the sacrifice..."

I await her explanation.

"...Sorry for asking this, but if one of us were to disappear from our new life, what do you think?"

Disappear? Is this related to the memories? Is that the sacrifice she meant? I can only infer it as such because, when our memories are undone, technically the people involved will not be relevant to our life, unless we manage to repeat the events again.

"I know it's hard to answer this kind of question. To be honest, I can't think either. Um... We'll end up forgetting each other, so it doesn't matter what we think, right?"

But... I do not want to forget. Kotone... Her smile and energy, even after I learned that she suffered the same curse as me... Her kindness and friendliness... Her determination... Those are the reasons why I try to cling to my hopes ever since I met her. It is cruel that we have to forget our bonds after saving the world. I wish miracles exist... so I can defy the world's rules.

"You know... Despite all that, I'm glad I met you, Senpai. Anomaly or not, you're the most charming person I've ever met. Well, uh, as in, you being you. I won't have it any other way. It's funny when I think back about the confession at the school rooftop."

Kotone is giggling. What she said sounds more like stating her final words... However, I can not help but smile.

"Look! Your face is red again!"

It seems she is back with her usual energy. That was a way to change the topic, though we really are concerned about our memories in the end. But on the other hand, she ends up accepting the truth about our eventual fates. I am still not having any of it. I have to think of something. Anything.

Suddenly, I realize something. I begin rummaging through my bag. I remember carrying something extra. As I wonder if it is still there, I finally find it. A rabbit doll. A rabbit doll I bought just for Kotone. I almost forgot about it until we started preparing for our journey. I give it to her.

"Huh? Thank you. But wh-"

This shall serve as a reminder of our relationship. World reset be damned.

"Y-You really think so?"

I will do anything to preserve our memories. I know this is meaningless, but nothing wrong with hoping, right?

"I... truly appreciate it. To be honest, I wish I thought the same way... It's just... the world is not always fair. It's how things should be."

How things should be... I wonder what Shinji thinks about the reality reset. I wonder what Shinji thinks about the possibility of not meeting me again in the new world.

"Still... I like that thought. I'll cherish this. Hopefully forever. Now that I think about it, we haven't seen what the whole process is like anyway, right, Senpai? Or... heh heh... can I call you by your nickname? We do have to make the best of this moment..."

She is quick to cheer up. That is the Kotone I know. Despite still having conflicting feelings about our fate, she does have a point. It is hard to take in the truth, but we have to end the journey on a high note. We have to keep doing our best to the very end. Just wallowing in sadness and panic will not solve anything. Harsh reminder, everyone's lives are at stake. We keep forgetting that. On another note, I definitely do not mind her calling me by my nickname.

"Aki..."

That really sounds nice.

"Um, Aki... I'm sorry for worrying you, and Villager. I shouldn't be feeling this way."

It is okay. I am sorry too.

"It took a while, but looks like our minds are finally at the right place, yeah?"

Indeed we are. Once again, it is not easy to face the truth. Our emotions are not exactly the most stable in the universe.

As we laugh off at how dumb we made ourselves look, Villager approaches us again.

"...How are you feeling?"

We are definitely feeling better. Still conflicted, but better. We are ready to face whatever lies at the end head on.

"After hearing what you two just said, I can see why you're so conflicted. But I'm surprised. You go back on track pretty quick."

We have other people to care about. We truly wish for world peace. Even if Celebi really told us the truth, we have to see the end by ourselves. Who knows, maybe we will reunite in the new reality. We feel stupid for getting so lost. Kotone, standing up proud, sums up our final thoughts and resolution.

"Let's think positive!"

And that is the Kotone I know.

Villager then speaks again.

"I'm glad to hear that. Honestly, you two are very interesting people to me, but it's unfortunate that I won't have enough time to know you better. And I'm focused on my duty. If I were to meet you again after your success, let's actually be friends for real! How does that sound?"

Both Kotone and I hope that is the case. A normal life with friends is what we wanted as well.

"Now that's out of the way, let me ask you before we proceed. Are you truly ready for the Smash Tower?"

Villager has a stern expression on her face when she brings up the question. This is an important choice. Kotone and I nod at each other. We tell Villager we are ready. She simply nods in approval. Now, we continue climbing.

The last stretch did not take long. We eventually reach the ledge. The top of the hill.

"This is it."

Villager shows us the Smash Tower. At a short distance, the glorious golden building is standing before us. Kotone approaches its doorless entrance, admiring the tower's beauty. Villager and I follow suit. As we get closer, we gradually feel warmth, as if the tower's glow itself helps combat the cold temperature. We enter the tower.

Inside, we are greeted with a sight of small figurines decorating the perimeter and the wall of the tower. I look closer at one, and it appears to have the similar round gold base as the mushroom trophy. In fact, all of the figurines have the same base. I never thought I would see trophies other than the one I have. The figures depicted on the trophies vary, and appear to be based on various objects, familiar or not. Some also depict familiar people and creatures. I see one depicting Jigglypuff, for example. I have not seen her for a long time. This entire sight makes me feel nostalgic. Aside from trophies, there are also orbs of light floating around.

"Those? Let me explain. When a person or a creature dies, their spirit ends up roaming here, finding peace, but it appears that since the darkness, the atmosphere here has become too oppressive for them."

Villager explains as Kotone and I continue to admire the trophies. Eventually, she guides us to what appears to be a round platform at the center of the room. The chamber inside the tower is pretty large, probably bigger than our school's sports field, so it took us a while to get to the center.

"It seems you've finally arrived."

Roy's voice was heard.

"I'm sorry I can't be much help. The end of the world is drawing closer as we speak. Place your trophy on the center of the platform, and it will take you straight to the top floor!"

I do as Roy instructed. I take out the trophy from my pouch and place it on the circular marker. The trophy begins to glow, followed by the elaborate pattern on the platform itself. The floor we stand on begins raising. It raises slow enough to not make us lose balance. As the platform takes us upwards, we get to see more trophies adorning the walls of the tower.

Eventually, we reach the top. We are above the clouds, but the tower still gives us warmth and allows us to breathe properly. In front of us is an altar of some sort... and someone else.

"Look who just lost the race."

That Yuki again. Neo is nowhere to be found.

"In case you're wondering, I've hired agents to take care of Neo."

Neo got apprehended?! Tch, I would rather see them fight while we finish our business. We are so close, damn it.

"Now, why are you so persistent? Why do you hate the idea of a world of harmony? You, Sanada, over there. Why don't you just accept that your death will do good for the harmony? It's kinda like a heroic sacrifice, don't you think? Surely you'd consider when I say it like that, wouldn't you?"

The true sacrifice is everyone's memories, but no one will be left behind... except for anomalies like Yuki. They are never meant to exist in the first place, so why should I care about his so-called "harmony"?

"Kotone would be happier to live with me instead of you, Sanada. Say, I heard your best friend suffered from a gunshot? Why don't you join him? The two of you would look perfect together! You will enjoy each other a lot, while I can admire Kotone forever. Her sexy movements, her attractive figure, her lovely voice... You never care about that, right?"

Did he just talk about Shinji?! With an unflattering implication, no less. While I clench my fists in anger, Kotone just gasps in horror. This Yuki guy is a creep. I begin to walk towards him while readying my fists.

"Hm? What are you gonna do? Punch me?"

Yes.

SMACK!!!

I have punched Yuki in the jaw, knocking him to the floor. He falls on his back, and begins to breathe heavily.

"So... you finally gained your courage."

I simply stand in place, readying my fists again. I do not care if he is from another dimension. If I can punch him, then he can be harmed as easily as the Shadows.

"All I want is a happier world, where conflicts like this would be at best non-existent or at worst toned down, but you made things difficult. Kotone... Don't you agree that a world of harmony is what you've always wished for? There's a reason why I'm here, after all."

Kotone, please do not fall for this guy's lies.

I watch her reaction while still staying wary of Yuki's next action. She is standing a good distance away behind me, still with Villager. She is nervous, but she looks at my eyes and nods. I look back at Yuki, who begins to stand up.

"Let me repeat once more. Your death is necessary for world peace, Sanada. Why are you still so unsure?"

Yuki pulls out his revolver, aimed at me. I remember him saying that a shot from this will end me for real.

"AKI! NO!!"

Kotone begins to panic, but she is unable to move from the spot. She is clearly scared. I understand why. Shinji was shot before, and I remember her crying her eyes out. It was the first time I have ever seen her cry. To her, this is going to be a repeat. While still looking back at her, I give her a reassuring nod.

Kotone... I believe in you.

"You don't need to be this hysterical, Kotone. I'm just freeing you."

I close my eyes while standing still in full confidence as Yuki fires his shot at me.

...

KABOOM!!

...

....

.....

I slowly open my eyes. I am still alive. I find myself lying on the floor, some distance away from Yuki. Yuki's entire body is on fire. It appears I have been saved by an attack that not only launched me backwards, but also canceled Yuki's fatal shot. I look back at where Kotone and Villager are still standing. Villager appears to be ducking, while Kotone has her Evoker pointing to her head. She is breathing heavily from the intense moment. Above her is a gigantic humanoid with long, thin curved horns and three pairs of feathery wings. The humanoid has long (brown? Red?) hair and long white cloth swirling around the figure. Is that her new Persona?

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Yuki is screaming in agony as he tries to put out the fire burning through his flesh. Serves him right.

"WHY?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DEFY ME!!!"

It sounds like it is directed to Kotone. He is surprised to see Kotone finally fighting him back. I am not going to let this opportunity go to waste. I call upon Caesar, and let him strike down Yuki's already-charred body with his strongest lightning spell. Once the dust clears, all that remains of Yuki is a sorry excuse of a burnt body. Limbs crumbling, organs burning, appearance nearly unidentifiable... Anomalous creature, but no different than us. Those angel wings that got burnt to a crisp might as well be mere facade to make us think he is unbeatable. Looking back, we were too cowardly to even try to land a hit on him. Now, his only remaining movement is the occasional twitching. We leave him be.

Thank you, Kotone.

Now, all that is left is the altar. There seems to be some sort of writing below its pedestal. At least, I think it is. If that is the case, I can not tell what alphabet system and language it is written in. Other than the decorative pillars with the similarly elaborate patterns as the lift platform and the single pedestal with the mysterious writing, there is nothing else to note on that altar.

"...There's no turning back now. All that's left is to place your trophy at the altar. I'll sing the world's song to complete the activation."

Villager is right. This is what we have decided on. I pick up the trophy on the platform and walk back to the altar. Kotone and I nod at each other, then I begin taking a few steps closer to the altar.

Suddenly, the place begins to shake.

"This isn't good. Come on!" I heard Kotone yell.

"We can't hold on anymore! The world is beginning to turn inside out! Hurry!"

Roy's voice follows. I try to take a few more steps towards the altar despite the quake. As time goes on, the tremor can only grow more intense. I manage to reach the altar. Time to place the trophy.

Ugh. The shaking gets so bad that I lose my footing and fall on the floor, dropping my trophy in the process. Come on... now is not the time for the floor to give way...

I try to get up, but the intense quake makes me difficult to even stand on my two feet. I can not give up just yet. I try to reach the dropped trophy by lunging towards it, but I end up a few centimeters short from it. I struggle to crawl a bit until it is actually within my arm's reach. I grab the trophy in one hand and try to reach out to the altar with my other hand... only for the shaking to cause me to drop my trophy again. Please... no more failures...

"I got it!"

Kotone is trying to help. My view is disoriented from the quake, but I can see her grabbing ahold of the trophy. However, she ends up falling to the floor. Me? I have difficulty even pushing myself up from the floor.

But... I can not give up now. I have to try again. I am not giving in until we are totally done for. I try standing up a few more times, failing every time. If Kotone is that determined to achieve world peace, then I have to feel the same. I will not falter. The struggle hurts like hell, and we might end up falling off at any time, but I will not stop trying. I reach out to Kotone, who begins to outstretch her arm as she tries to give me the trophy. I finally pick it up, carefully stand up, and then once again go for the altar. It is hard to walk between these tremors...

One step...

Two steps...

Three steps...

A few more steps...

...

I finally make it.

I quickly place the trophy. Only at that exact moment does the quake stops. The trophy begins to glow, followed by the writing on the pedestal, then the pillars, then the entire altar, then the whole floor. The lights are not that bright, but enough to make me squint slightly. As I watch the entire thing unfold, I finally breathe a sigh of relief. After that, I hear someone singing. It is Villager.

_Let there be peace~_

_Let there be peace~_

_Let us be free~_

_Like the butterflies flying 'round this tree~_

_Let life go on~_

_Let life go on~_

_Let us live more~_

_Because there is still much more to live for~_

_We wish to live as one~_

_This be the planet's want~_

_Strengthen it~_

_Nourish it~_

_For our home and tomorrow's story~_

_May it always be~_

It is a calming song, fitting after all the hell we went through. As Villager finishes the song, the lights begin to glow more intensely. I end up shielding my eyes. I have no idea what is actually happening, but I hope Kotone and Villager are still fine.

...


	11. Aftermath

I open my eyes.

This is a completely different place. It is all white, with chunks of small debris floating around. I look down at my feet. I am not standing on anything. It appears that I am simply floating in what I think is some sort of void, but I can still breathe and move about. At a distance, I spot Kotone. I look around to see if Villager is nearby, but it does not seem like she is here. Last time, we were at Smash Tower, right? We managed to put the trophy back at the tower, right? So, what is this place? Is this where the world reset is taking place? There is no way to know, so I shake my questions off and look in front of me. I float closer to Kotone. When I get to see her up close, she seems to be looking at me with sorrowful eyes. She is smiling, but she seems she is about to cry. I hold her hands. Her expression remains unchanged.

"We really did it."

Yes, we did.

"Our world will be reset, back to before the anomalies showed up, but without the anomalies appearing again."

She is reiterating what happens at the end of our journey. At this point, we already know our memories will be affected. We almost forsook our mission and indirectly endangered the entire planet when we first heard of it, but after thinking about it in a better light, we decided to accept it. So... why is she still sad about it?

"Aki..."

Yes, what is it?

"Remember when I told you about how Yuki's truth is hard to accept? Before I was taken to Naganaki Shrine, he said something to me, and it really hurt. After you found me and he left, I apologized because I don't want to hurt your feelings..."

It takes me a while to remember what she is referring to. It feels like a long time ago, not helped with the eventual loss of time before we succeeded in our journey.

**"The truth is..."**

I am listening...

"...It's me. I'm part of the anomaly. I shouldn't have been born. My existence alone is what drew Yuki and other beings like him into this world. Yuki was right... I don't belong to this world. I'm so sorry..."

What are you talking about? This can not be real.

"If I revealed it earlier, we might be worse off compared to when we learned of the reset from Celebi... Deaths aside, I enjoy living in your world, Aki. I wish I can keep hiding the truth, but now that you're still here looking at me like this... I..."

I can see tears pouring out from her eyes now. I am left speechless. She has been hiding this from me since my first Yuki encounter. She feels she is responsible for inviting those beings. I... do not know what to think.

"When I regained my consciousness here, I heard a voice. Something about this place being the remnants of the old world. Everything but the anomalies will eventually disappear from here and then reappear in the new world. So... I'm going to disappear forever."

No... If there is one thing to worry about the whole world reset thing is our memories. We will always have a chance of meeting each other again. But Kotone being gone forever... I can not accept this. I do not want this.

"You... can now live a normal life you've always wanted."

I know that is my desire, but it does not change the fact that I can not bear to let Kotone be erased from existence.

"Live... to your fullest."

As she says this, I feel I have lost my grip on Kotone. In fact, I am losing my sense of touch. When I look at my hands that were supposed to hold hers, I find out that they just phase right through them. My hands, no, my entire body appears to be fading away. But Kotone still remains the same. She is going to stay here. She will be erased along with the remaining anomalies. I still adamantly refuse to accept this. Why can't I take her to our new world? Why was she born as an anomaly?!

"...You're crying."

Words can not describe how absolutely miserable I am feeling right now. Between my sobbing, I look at Kotone's face again. That smile. I feel hurt. Her eyes are still heavy with sorrow, but she struggles to smile a bit in her attempt to lessen my pain. My vision begins to blur. Even when I try to dry my eyes from the tears, the blur gets gradually worse. Our separation is imminent. An invisible force begins to drag me backwards, away from her. I begin to frantically try to reach out to her.

"Goodbye... Aki..."

No, Kotone. Please, don't stay here...

"I love you..."

...

* * *

**March 31, 2010 - New Reality**

My name is Akihiko Sanada. I have just graduated from high school, planning to go to college. During the years I spent on focusing on my academics, I lived in a dorm with a few other students. It is simple accomodation, really. It is close to the monorail that takes us to the school, which is located on an artificial island. Now, I am going to move out somewhere close to the university I end up enrolled in, but it just so happens that the dorm is going to close down, so everyone else is moving out too. My dorm mates? I get along well with them. They are an interesting bunch. Yukari Takeba is your every day teenage girl, interested in fashion, though her main hobby seems to be archery. Junpei Iori is the prankster of the group, often making joking remarks and getting into trouble especially around Yukari. Mitsuru Kirijo is the daughter of a company's CEO and it shows in her lifestyle, though sometimes I wish she can just chill like a normal teen. Fuuka Yamagishi is a girl interested in technology, specifically computers. Ken Amada is the only elementary student here, but he is surprisingly mature for his age. Shinjiro Aragaki, or Shinji as I usually call him, is my best friend, though not without our usual vitriols. We also have unique residents here, who are Aigis, a robot girl made as an experiment in adaptive AI (Mitsuru knows more about this better than me), and Koromaru, which is basically our pet. His owner passed away from an illness and the poor doggy later ended up in an accident. Fortunately, we were the first to take action and tended to his injuries, which won him over.

Right now, we are simply chatting with each other at the dorm lounge. We will start leaving tomorrow morning, so we might as well enjoy the final moments of the dorm.

"It has been fun staying here with all of you guys."

Yukari really enjoys our company.

"Likewise. Let us remember the fond memories we have created from the years spent living here."

Mitsuru agreed.

"So, Senpai, what college are you planning to go to?"

Fuuka's question is directed towards me. I explain that I am interested in law. I might even consider the police academy.

"Whoa, Senpai, that's cool! I'd be scared to be apprehended by you, though. Heh heh."

Junpei voiced his thoughts.

"Shut it, Stupei."

Yukari is not having any of his nonsense, of course.

"That's great! As for me, I just got accepted for a part-time job. It is tech support work, but I'm really looking forward to it. Since I'm a third-year now, I believe this can help me prepare my skills for the actual full-time workplace."

I like Fuuka's enthusiasm. Junpei then speaks again.

"Come on now, Yuka-tan. You always take me so seriously. Right, Koto?"

"Stop calling me that."

Oh. I forgot one more dormmate. This one is a transfer student named Makoto Yuki. He was a second-year when he transferred here, apparently due to his parents' work. He does not speak much and might seem apathetic, but try to know him better and he will show his genuine kindness.

As the lively chat continues, I spot Shinji walking down the stairs, about to go outside. I ask him.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I just need some fresh air."

Suddenly, Ken shouts at him.

"Hey! You still owe us a steak party!"

Koromaru barks happily. Aigis then speaks. Of course, the voice sounds monotone and the speech is rather stiff.

"In order to celebrate Fuuka getting her new part-time job, I recall you promising to treat all of us to a delicacy called steak."

I just watch Shinji sigh in annoyance, but he smiles in reassurance. He may be rough-looking, but when it comes to food, he is more than happy to talk about it. After that, he walks out.

The conversations remain animated, talking about various things and plans for the future. However... I become curious of something. I look over the staircase. While everyone else is still busy talking, I just quietly leave the lounge and go upstairs. The second floor leads to the boys' rooms. But for some reason, the upper floor draws my attention. I do not go to the third floor often, as it has the girls' rooms, and the one time I accidentally walk in on Mitsuru when I was going to report my errand ended with me getting a harsh beating and made me think twice about going there at all. Since the dorm is closing down, I might as well find out why I am intrigued by the third floor. I walk up the next staircase.

When I reach the third floor, my curiosity is focused on one particular door. The one on the right at the very end of the hallway. This is actually the only unoccupied room in the entire dorm. I do not know why, but something compels me to check it. I head over there. As it is unoccupied, its door is locked by default, but I was given spare keys that I have yet to return. This should be my only chance to know the answer. I unlock the door.

Unsurprisingly, the room is empty except for its default furnishing. There is a bed at the back, a desk at the side near the window, a sink with a mirror by the entrance, and a closet embedded into the wall across the desk. I step inside and look around. There is nothing to note, but...

I can feel my tears welling up and then pouring down my cheeks. Why am I suddenly feeling sad? What is it about this room that tugs my heartstrings? I feel like I am missing something, but I do not know what. As I ponder about my feelings, a blue butterfly flutters by, catching my attention. I do not think there is a window open, and I am sure it could not just enter from the lounge. Out of curiosity, my eyes follow where it flies. It ends up flying to the underside of the bed. I walk to the bed and check under it. I do not see the butterfly, as if it just disappeared right then and there, but I do discover something that was never there before. Note that the window here is untouched, always closed. The whole time I stayed in this dorm, I have never seen or heard of anyone going into this room. This building has a surveillance system in certain locations, the hallways included, so it confuses me how this ended up here.

It is a rabbit doll.

* * *

**_Fin._ **


	12. What If

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if the truth turned out to be something else.

**February 14, 2010**

...

....

.....

"Hey, wake up!"

...

"Dude, how much longer are ya going to sleep?!"

...

"You're gonna miss out on the girls' chocolate!"

...

"Sigh... Suit yourself, then. I'm gonna hoard all the sweets, if Ken's not eating them all first!"

* * *

...Is it me, or did I just hear Junpei's voice? I must be so tired that I overslept. Good thing today is a Sunday. I lazily look at my phone laying beside me to check the time.

11 a.m.?!

Today's date? February... 14...

Oh. So that is why.

I try getting up from my bed. I am not sure if it is my tiredness or sheer laziness, but my body feels heavy. Just trying to get into a sitting position feels like a struggle. My eyes are still tired, but I have overslept, so there is no reason for me to go back to sleep. Going from sitting to standing is equally difficult if not more. Even when I manage to stand up, I somehow feel the need to balance myself otherwise I will just collapse on a random direction. I thought my last few days have been rather mundane, just school, boxing, and hanging out with friends. Maybe I overworked myself and I did not notice. Perhaps I will feel better after a good shower.

After showering and changing into my casual winter attire, I finally begin my walk to meet the others. I still feel kind of wobbly. As I walk from the hallway towards the stairs at an uneven pace, I begin to think about my agenda for today. If I recall correctly, I am supposed to meet...

Kotone.

There she is, having just arrived from the first floor. I simply wave hi to her. I try to talk, but for some reason no words come out. As for Kotone herself... her smile has quickly faded. Her mouth is slightly agape as if in shock. Her eyes are full of worry. She walks closer to me.

"Are you okay...?"

I simply nod with a weak attempt of a reassuring smile. Just trying to say yes is painful. What is wrong with me? Why am I so exhausted despite having slept a lot more lately?

"Listen... let's go to the rooftop."

Without giving me a chance to respond, Kotone begins holding my shoulder with one hand and my arm with another, helping me walk along with her. It is not like I am able to say a word to her anyway. Every step she takes, I step along. All while maintaining my balance. She is patient enough to handle my slowness, especially during the walk up the stairs, where I am more likely to trip and fall if I am not holding on to anything. I wonder how the others will react if they see me like this. Maybe it is best that Kotone immediately takes me somewhere else.

Eventually, we reach the dorm rooftop. We walk towards the edge, enjoying the view of the city. It is as breathtaking as always. Many tall buildings. The sea at a distance. The monorail. The artificial island.

The wind is so nice.

Kotone still holds on to me, fearing that I might collapse. I look at her. She is smiling at the scenery, like I did. I try to brush off my tiredness and enjoy the view again with Kotone by my side. I feel comfortable with her around. I wish I can express how I feel with words, but I still have difficulty speaking. I am content listening to her talking, though. At least I can still hear her. However... there is one thing that keeps bothering me. What is this feeling? My vision keeps blurring every now and then. I feel like suffocating. My head hurts. Please... I do not want to show this to Kotone... Let me smile for her...

Kotone looks at my face again. I... can not smile for her. I do not think I can show any other expression other than utter dullness anymore. Could this be...? No, this can not be happening. I am not ready yet. I do not want this. I do not want to see Kotone unhappy. Just let me...

"There you are."

A voice. We look back to see... Link and Roy, who walk towards us. There is no sound of the rooftop door opening, so they might just appeared out of thin air. I mean, they are entirely different beings. I should not be surprised.

"We're sorry, but I guess it's about time."

Roy apologized while looking at me. Both Link and Roy have the same sorrowful expression. Kotone looks at me again, tears beginning to well up.

"The world will be reset soon. You're currently using up the last of your strength to keep the current reality up. You do know this goes against what your journey was about, right?"

My... strength...? Oh. I remember now. Kotone and I went through a hell of a journey while carrying some sort of figurine, no, trophy so that it can be placed in a tower. It was supposed to revert our world back to the time before the strangeness, er, anomalies showed up, albeit without them appearing anymore. We succeeded and we went back to our normal lives. But turns out the world is not reset yet. I remember having problems with our memories being undone. It seems that I still chose to live in denial. I am not ready to be separated from Kotone just yet. Yeah, I guess this is the reason.

Kotone begins to speak again.

"...Remember when I said something about Yuki's truth? Before he took me to Naganaki Shrine back then, he said something to me. I... decided not to tell you what it is exactly because I don't want you to feel hurt."

Yuki's... truth? It took me a while to register what she was referring to...

**"The truth is..."**

...I guess I was right in worrying. Thinking back, I was already hurt just from Yuki's accusation before Kotone brought it up. However... I am unable to cry. Unable to be angry. I can only watch Kotone finally shedding her tears as she explains the truth.

"...Yuki was right. You're part of the anomaly. The whole time I was doubting myself. I-I love you, but..."

Kotone begins to lose her words. So... I was never supposed to be alive to begin with, huh. Back then, I was also doubting Yuki's threat back at the shrine, but considering what I have done now, there is no more hiding. I am my biggest sin.

"I... I won't be able to see you again..."

As this is happening, the sky begins to darken. I see Link and Roy looking up the sky with concern. The world reset is about to commence. I do not think Kotone can keep me in place anymore. But... I can not bear to burden her like this. Please... let me...

With what little strength I have left, I try to shift my body a bit so that I am facing Kotone. I try to keep standing up for as long as I am able to. I slowly lift my shaking hands to her shoulders as she watches me in surprise. I begin wrapping my arms around her back as I slightly hunch over, my face buried in her auburn hair. It is the closest I can try to support myself during the embrace. But this is not a farewell hug. I keep telling myself, there is never a goodbye between us. Kotone does not say anything. I feel her arms holding on to my waist tightly, as if not wanting to let me go. She can not hold back her sadness anymore, finally sobbing into my chest. I wish I can feel the same...

As my vision begins to fade to white, the last thing I hear... is Kotone screaming out my name.

...

* * *

...I wake up.

All I see around me is small chunks of debris floating in complete whiteness. There is no one else. No Link and Roy. No Kotone. I am all alone, just floating in complete nothing the same way as the debris. Where am I?

I try to make a slight bit of movement from my spot, hoping I am able to, but I can not. In fact, I do not think I can move my limbs anymore. I can still breathe and look around. I just can not move my arms and legs. Suddenly, I begin to hear a voice. The voice does not sound like anyone I know. I do not know exactly how to describe it. It sounds otherworldly, or divine, but gentle.

"We're so sorry that you have to end up like this."

If only I can communicate with it, but like before, I am unable to. I can only think. The voice continues.

"We can sense your will to live like a normal human being, but you were fated to end up on this path. We would give you another chance, but your nature as an anomaly means that all that effort would mean nothing."

The calming hums of the void have been replaced with... silence. I open up my mouth to at least try to let out some noise, but I do not hear anything. Not even the more subtle sounds from moving my head to look around are heard. I have lost my hearing. Despite this, however, my mind can still pick up the divine voice.

"In this place, all unwanted anomalies will be erased from existence. You seem to be the last remnant. We admire your determination, but once again, we can't do anything to salvage you without throwing the world into chaos again."

My vision quickly fades to black. I feel my eyes blinking repeatedly, but the darkness is not gone. I have lost my eyesight. With no movement, no way to speak, no hearing, and now no sight, all I have left is my mind. This must be how it feels like to be erased from existence...

"...Any last thoughts?"

I am... afraid. Kotone will be brought back into the new reality, but will she be safe? Will there be no more people like Yuki to worry about? Will she feel lonely out there? What about the other people I know? Will my friends know each other again...? Will Miki get to live long and enjoy her life...? Will Shinji get to live as normal as everyone else...?

No. I should not worry this much. This is never a goodbye. I wish there is something, anything that can allow me to be reborn in the new world. If the world can be cleansed, then why can't I? Why erase my entire being? ...I will never understand this world. I have met many people. I have made many memories, good or bad. Despite being held back by my recurring deaths, I tried to live. But now... I am not given a second chance. I will always remember my life... as a completely chaotic one. Because I am an anomaly... I will never live like a normal human. And everyone will just forget about me and live on. I will not be missed at all. So, please... someone... anyone... if you can hear my cry, please find a way to keep my existence somehow, without drawing in the anomalies again. Even if it is just a slight proof. I do not want to be gone completely... I...

...

I can only picture myself in my mind, begging and crying like a little child wanting his toys back. Heh... That sounds stupid, doesn't it? I guess Shinji's remarks will always live on in my head. My friend... I want to see you again. And this time, I promise we will live our life to the fullest. If it turns out I am not allowed to come back after all... if you end up meeting Kotone... please take good care of her. Now, I imagine myself finally smiling, but my eyes are teary. I am grateful I have met them in my life. Ugh... I keep telling myself this is not a farewell, yet my mind keeps veering off to the solemn side. I guess this is what happens when my own mind is starting to fade away too...

...Looking back, the journey to Smash Tower was when I was the closest to Kotone. No matter the troubles we had, we supported each other. Speaking of the journey, I wonder if Villager will one day meet Kotone again... Of course she will have forgotten about me as well, but the thing is, we still did not know her much despite the seemingly long journey. If I completely disappear, there is no chance of me encountering her. When we pulled the miracle at the top of the tower, we were not even able to thank her, since her song was what unleashed the power. In a way, the trophy I put acted like a key, which is why it was referred to as a "key trophy." Speaking of miracles... I wonder... Can I pull another one, somehow...?

If... I can will it...

Will it... be possible...?

Maybe...

If another miracle can be allowed to happen...

...

Kotone... please...

...

Remember me...

* * *

**September 22, 2010 - New Reality**

Kotone Shiomi is a third-year student at Gekkoukan High. She is well known for her impressive academics, her involvement in the student council as well as the many school clubs, her charisma, her kindness, and her willingness to get along with many people. At school, students and teachers often praise her for her many accomplishments, though some end up badly jealous of her instead. She has the energy not easily matched by other students, and even if she dozes off, it does not hinder her studying one bit, always managing to find a way to make up for it. She lives in a dorm with various other students. Even if a senior dormmate ends up graduating and thus leaving the dorm, she will always try to keep in touch with them, be it via phone or e-mail.

However, there is one particular quirk of hers that is noted by her friends, though they end up brushing it off because she is smart at making excuses. This habit, which might as well be a ritual, started last year. Every Monday and Friday, she will always carry an extra lunchbox in addition to her own. This is only done during active school days, never on days off or holidays, which is why other students can take notice. She usually claims that she is hungrier than usual on those days. Since she exercises a lot and thus her change of weight is never really noticeable, this excuse is the most common. On those days, she will always carry those lunches to the school rooftop and make sure that no one else is around. If there are other people present there, she will either wait or, if the wait is too long, make up excuses to those people. By the time she joined the student council, making excuses up there became a lot easier.

For some reason, though, she decides to do this on a Wednesday.

During lunchtime, Kotone is seen making her way to the stairs. Like in the days she usually does this habit, she carries two lunchboxes. At this point, almost no student bats an eye at her since she does this so often that they do not even pay attention to the date. Students who do notice her are left perplexed but still not willing to ask her. Kotone smiles as always.

The sun is shining brightly in the early autumn. Kotone opens the door leading to the school rooftop and then closes it again immediately after she walks out. There is no one else up there. Feeling thankful for the situation, Kotone walks toward one of the benches and then sits there. She basks in the warm sunlight for a while before she hears her stomach grumble. She should be having lunch, after all. But first, she looks around to double check her surroundings. In her mind, she can not continue until there is absolutely no one at the rooftop. Once she is sure that the course is clear, she opens the two lunchboxes. Her lunchbox is something unusual for her today. It has a radish, three pieces of bacon, and an apple. Her reasoning is that she just wants something different for a change.

As for the second lunchbox, it contains pancakes. Kotone has no idea what drove her to make these, but she is pleased to see it. It is a stack of three pancakes with jam between them. She has no idea why she decided to not make it too sweet either.

She begins eating her own lunch. The pancakes in the second lunchbox remain untouched. Once she finishes her meal, she looks up. The sky is blue with a few fluffy clouds floating by. A bird can be seen flying by as well. Kotone then begins speaking. To no one in particular. Just the sky.

"Well, I made you something special. I'm not sure why in this occasion, but I hope you're happy."

Even back then, Kotone had no idea what started this habit and why she was willing to keep doing this other than the "feeling of comfort." She just knows that something, or maybe someone, is up there but is only willing to communicate with her. She is also aware enough to not tell anyone about her habit. Even though she never receives any kind of reply from the above, the mysterious yet pleasant feeling makes her think that whoever is up there is always happy to have her around. Perhaps that is its way to respond to her.

"It's a beautiful day to sit outside and enjoy the sun, don't you think?"

Like before, silence is what Kotone gets for an answer. She looks over the extra lunchbox. The pancakes are gone, and it is not from her touching it. She looks up at the sky again and smiles. Again, there is nothing up there but the blue sky, the sun, the clouds, and the occasional bird flying by.

"It's nice to have company."

Silence.

"I've been doing this for more than a year, huh? You know... I've been wondering if you're really lonely up there... Isn't it sad to only have me as your friend? To be honest, I don't know why I even know you. I just feel... happy."

Silence again.

"I might have said this several times. I somehow feel comfortable around you. Maybe... it's because we're both alone. Alone in knowing that you... kinda... exist... I'd be called crazy if anyone finds out."

Kotone looks at the empty extra lunchbox before looking back at the sky again.

"The fact that you eat from my other lunchbox every time I bring the extra is proof."

Kotone smiles.

"It's unlikely, but... if you could come down here, whoever you are or whatever you look like, I'd introduce you to all my friends. And you won't feel so alone anymore."

Silence is still its only reply, but Kotone is happier now. She continues chatting with the sky while admiring the view of the city. There is still a bit of time left before lunchtime is over, and it does not seem that anyone else is going to the rooftop. There is no telling if she can keep this odd friendship for much longer, so she decides to enjoy the most of the moment.

* * *

**_Fin._ **


End file.
